Smarty3 Manual

Monte Ohrt <monte at ohrt dot com>Uwe Tews <uwe dot tews at googlemail dot com>

Smarty - the compiling PHP template engineby Monte Ohrt <monte at ohrt dot com> and Uwe Tews <uwe dot tews at googlemail dot com>

Publication date 2010-11-11Copyright © 2001-2010 New Digital Group, Inc.

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Table of ContentsPreface ........................................................................................................................... xiiiI. Getting Started ................................................................................................................ 1

1. What is Smarty? ..................................................................................................... 32. Installation ............................................................................................................. 5

Requirements ..................................................................................................... 5Basic Installation ................................................................................................ 5Extended Setup .................................................................................................. 9

II. Smarty For Template Designers ...................................................................................... 123. Basic Syntax ........................................................................................................ 16

Comments ....................................................................................................... 16Variables ......................................................................................................... 18Functions ......................................................................................................... 20Attributes ........................................................................................................ 20Embedding Vars in Double Quotes ...................................................................... 21Math ............................................................................................................... 22Escaping Smarty Parsing .................................................................................... 23

4. Variables ............................................................................................................. 26Variables assigned from PHP .............................................................................. 26

Associative arrays ..................................................................................... 27Array indexes ........................................................................................... 28Objects .................................................................................................... 29

Variable scopes ................................................................................................ 30Variables loaded from config files ....................................................................... 31{$smarty} reserved variable ................................................................................ 33

Request variables ...................................................................................... 33{$smarty.now} ......................................................................................... 34{$smarty.const} ........................................................................................ 34{$smarty.capture} ..................................................................................... 34{$smarty.config} ....................................................................................... 35{$smarty.section} ...................................................................................... 35{$smarty.template} .................................................................................... 35{$smarty.current_dir} ................................................................................ 35{$smarty.version} ..................................................................................... 35{$smarty.block.child} ................................................................................ 35{$smarty.block.parent} ............................................................................... 35{$smarty.ldelim}, {$smarty.rdelim} ............................................................. 35

5. Variable Modifiers ................................................................................................ 36capitalize ......................................................................................................... 37cat .................................................................................................................. 38count_characters ............................................................................................... 39count_paragraphs .............................................................................................. 40count_sentences ................................................................................................ 41count_words ..................................................................................................... 42date_format ...................................................................................................... 43default ............................................................................................................ 46escape ............................................................................................................. 47indent ............................................................................................................. 49lower .............................................................................................................. 51nl2br ............................................................................................................... 51regex_replace ................................................................................................... 52replace ............................................................................................................ 53

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spacify ............................................................................................................ 54string_format .................................................................................................... 55strip ................................................................................................................ 56strip_tags ......................................................................................................... 57truncate ........................................................................................................... 58upper .............................................................................................................. 60wordwrap ........................................................................................................ 61

6. Combining Modifiers ............................................................................................. 647. Built-in Functions .................................................................................................. 65

{$var=...} ........................................................................................................ 65{append} ......................................................................................................... 67{assign} .......................................................................................................... 68{block} ........................................................................................................... 71{call} .............................................................................................................. 76{capture} ......................................................................................................... 78{config_load} ................................................................................................... 80{debug} .......................................................................................................... 83{extends} ........................................................................................................ 83{for} ............................................................................................................... 84{foreach},{foreachelse} ..................................................................................... 86

@index ................................................................................................... 90@iteration ................................................................................................ 91@first ..................................................................................................... 92@last ...................................................................................................... 93@show .................................................................................................... 93@total ..................................................................................................... 94

{function} ....................................................................................................... 94{if},{elseif},{else} ............................................................................................ 96{include} ......................................................................................................... 98{include_php} ................................................................................................ 102{insert} ......................................................................................................... 103{ldelim},{rdelim} ............................................................................................ 105{literal} ......................................................................................................... 107{nocache} ...................................................................................................... 107{php} ............................................................................................................ 108{section},{sectionelse} ..................................................................................... 109

.index .................................................................................................... 116

.index_prev ............................................................................................ 117

.index_next ............................................................................................ 117

.iteration ................................................................................................ 118

.first ...................................................................................................... 120

.last ....................................................................................................... 120

.rownum ................................................................................................ 120

.loop ..................................................................................................... 120

.show .................................................................................................... 121

.total ..................................................................................................... 122{strip} ........................................................................................................... 122{while} ......................................................................................................... 123

8. Custom Functions ................................................................................................ 125{counter} ....................................................................................................... 125{cycle} .......................................................................................................... 126{eval} ........................................................................................................... 127{fetch} .......................................................................................................... 129{html_checkboxes} .......................................................................................... 130

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{html_image} ................................................................................................. 133{html_options} ............................................................................................... 134{html_radios} ................................................................................................. 138{html_select_date} .......................................................................................... 141{html_select_time} .......................................................................................... 145{html_table} ................................................................................................... 148{mailto} ........................................................................................................ 151{math} .......................................................................................................... 152{textformat} ................................................................................................... 155

9. Config Files ........................................................................................................ 15810. Debugging Console ............................................................................................ 160

III. Smarty For Programmers ............................................................................................. 16111. Constants .......................................................................................................... 165

SMARTY_DIR ............................................................................................... 16512. Smarty Class Variables ....................................................................................... 166

$template_dir .................................................................................................. 166$compile_dir .................................................................................................. 166$config_dir ..................................................................................................... 166$plugins_dir ................................................................................................... 167$debugging .................................................................................................... 167$debug_tpl ..................................................................................................... 168$debugging_ctrl .............................................................................................. 168$auto_literal ................................................................................................... 168$autoload_filters .............................................................................................. 168$compile_check .............................................................................................. 169$force_compile ............................................................................................... 169$caching ........................................................................................................ 169$cache_id ....................................................................................................... 170$cache_dir ..................................................................................................... 170$cache_lifetime ............................................................................................... 170$cache_handler_func ........................................................................................ 170$cache_modified_check .................................................................................... 171$config_overwrite ............................................................................................ 171$config_booleanize .......................................................................................... 171$config_read_hidden ........................................................................................ 172$config_fix_newlines ....................................................................................... 172$default_template_handler_func ......................................................................... 172$php_handling ................................................................................................ 172$trusted_dir .................................................................................................... 172$left_delimiter ................................................................................................ 172$right_delimiter .............................................................................................. 172$compiler_class .............................................................................................. 173$request_vars_order ......................................................................................... 173$request_use_auto_globals ................................................................................ 173$compile_id ................................................................................................... 173$use_sub_dirs ................................................................................................. 174$default_modifiers ........................................................................................... 174$default_resource_type ..................................................................................... 174

13. Smarty Class Methods() ...................................................................................... 175append() ........................................................................................................ 176appendByRef() ................................................................................................ 177assign() .......................................................................................................... 178assignByRef() ................................................................................................. 180clearAllAssign() .............................................................................................. 181

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clearAllCache() ............................................................................................... 182clearAssign() .................................................................................................. 183clearCache() ................................................................................................... 184clearCompiledTemplate() .................................................................................. 185clearConfig() .................................................................................................. 186compileAllConfig() .......................................................................................... 187compileAllTemplates() ..................................................................................... 188configLoad() ................................................................................................... 189createData() .................................................................................................... 190createTemplate() ............................................................................................. 191disableSecurity() ............................................................................................. 193display() ........................................................................................................ 194enableSecurity() .............................................................................................. 196fetch() ........................................................................................................... 197getConfigVars() .............................................................................................. 199getRegisteredObject() ....................................................................................... 200getTags() ....................................................................................................... 201getTemplateVars() ........................................................................................... 202isCached() ...................................................................................................... 203loadFilter() ..................................................................................................... 205registerFilter() ................................................................................................. 206registerPlugin() ............................................................................................... 207registerObject() ............................................................................................... 210registerResource() ............................................................................................ 211templateExists() .............................................................................................. 212unregisterFilter() ............................................................................................. 213unregisterPlugin .............................................................................................. 214unregisterObject() ............................................................................................ 215unregisterResource() ........................................................................................ 216testInstall() ..................................................................................................... 217

14. Caching ............................................................................................................ 218Setting Up Caching ......................................................................................... 218Multiple Caches Per Page ................................................................................. 220Cache Groups ................................................................................................. 222Controlling Cacheability of Plugins' Output ......................................................... 223

15. Advanced Features ............................................................................................. 226Security ......................................................................................................... 226Changing settings by template ........................................................................... 228Template Inheritance ....................................................................................... 229Streams ......................................................................................................... 231Objects .......................................................................................................... 232Static Classes ................................................................................................. 233Prefilters ........................................................................................................ 234Postfilters ....................................................................................................... 235Output Filters ................................................................................................. 235Cache Handler Function ................................................................................... 236Resources ...................................................................................................... 238

Templates from $template_dir ................................................................... 238Templates from any directory .................................................................... 238Templates from strings ............................................................................. 239Template inheritance defined by PHP script ................................................. 240Templates from other sources .................................................................... 240Default template handler function ............................................................... 243

16. Extending Smarty With Plugins ............................................................................ 244

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How Plugins Work .......................................................................................... 244Naming Conventions ....................................................................................... 244Writing Plugins ............................................................................................... 245Template Functions ......................................................................................... 245Modifiers ....................................................................................................... 247Block Functions .............................................................................................. 249Compiler Functions ......................................................................................... 251Prefilters/Postfilters .......................................................................................... 252Output Filters ................................................................................................. 253Resources ...................................................................................................... 254Inserts ........................................................................................................... 256

IV. Appendixes ............................................................................................................... 25817. Troubleshooting ................................................................................................. 260

Smarty/PHP errors ........................................................................................... 26018. Tips & Tricks ................................................................................................... 262

Blank Variable Handling .................................................................................. 262Default Variable Handling ................................................................................ 262Passing variable title to header template .............................................................. 263Dates ............................................................................................................ 264WAP/WML .................................................................................................... 265Componentized Templates ................................................................................ 267Obfuscating E-mail Addresses ........................................................................... 268

19. Resources ......................................................................................................... 26920. BUGS .............................................................................................................. 270

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List of Examples2.1. Required Smarty library files .......................................................................................... 52.2. Set SMARTY_DIR constant manually ............................................................................. 62.3. Supply absolute path to library file .................................................................................. 62.4. Add the library path to the php.ini file ......................................................................... 62.5. Appending the include path in a php script with ini_set() ..................................................... 72.6. What the file structure looks like .................................................................................... 72.7. Permissions and making directories writable ...................................................................... 82.8. /web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates/index.tpl ........................................................ 82.9. Editing /web/www.example.com/docs/guestbook/index.php .................................................. 92.10. /php/includes/guestbook/setup.php ................................................................................ 102.11. /web/www.example.com/guestbook/htdocs/index.php ....................................................... 113.1. Comments within a template ......................................................................................... 173.2. Variables ................................................................................................................... 193.3. function syntax .......................................................................................................... 203.4. function attribute syntax ............................................................................................... 213.5. Syntax examples ......................................................................................................... 223.6. Examples .................................................................................................................. 223.7. math examples ........................................................................................................... 233.8. Using the auto-literal feature ......................................................................................... 243.9. changing delimiters example ......................................................................................... 254.1. Example variables ....................................................................................................... 264.2. Assigned variables ...................................................................................................... 274.3. Accessing associative array variables .............................................................................. 284.4. Accessing arrays by index ............................................................................................ 294.5. Accessing object properties .......................................................................................... 304.6. Variable scope examples .............................................................................................. 314.7. config variables .......................................................................................................... 324.8. Displaying request variables ......................................................................................... 335.1. Modifier examples ...................................................................................................... 365.2. capitalize ................................................................................................................... 385.3. cat ............................................................................................................................ 395.4. count_characters ......................................................................................................... 405.5. count_paragraphs ........................................................................................................ 415.6. count_sentences .......................................................................................................... 425.7. count_words .............................................................................................................. 435.8. date_format ................................................................................................................ 445.9. default ...................................................................................................................... 475.10. escape ..................................................................................................................... 485.11. Other examples ......................................................................................................... 495.12. indent ...................................................................................................................... 505.13. lower ...................................................................................................................... 515.14. nl2br ....................................................................................................................... 525.15. regex_replace ........................................................................................................... 535.16. replace .................................................................................................................... 545.17. spacify .................................................................................................................... 555.18. string_format ............................................................................................................ 565.19. strip ........................................................................................................................ 575.20. strip_tags ................................................................................................................. 585.21. truncate ................................................................................................................... 605.22. upper ...................................................................................................................... 615.23. wordwrap ................................................................................................................ 62

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6.1. combining modifiers .................................................................................................... 647.1. Simple assignment ...................................................................................................... 657.2. Assignment with math ................................................................................................. 667.3. Assignment of an array element .................................................................................... 667.4. Assignment of an multidimensional array element ............................................................ 667.5. Appending an array ..................................................................................................... 667.6. Assigment in the scope of calling template ...................................................................... 677.7. {append} ................................................................................................................... 687.8. {assign} .................................................................................................................... 697.9. {assign} as a nocache variable ...................................................................................... 697.10. {assign} with some maths .......................................................................................... 697.11. {assign} in the scope of calling template ....................................................................... 707.12. {assign} a variable to current scope tree ........................................................................ 707.13. {assign} a global variable ........................................................................................... 707.14. Accessing {assign} variables from a PHP script .............................................................. 717.15. Simple {block} example ......................................................................................... 727.16. Prepend {block} example ........................................................................................ 737.17. Append {block} example ........................................................................................ 747.18. {$smarty.block.child} example ........................................................................ 757.19. {$smarty.block.parent} example ...................................................................... 767.20. Calling a recursive menu example ................................................................................ 787.21. {capture} with the name attribute ................................................................................. 797.22. {capture} into a template variable ................................................................................ 807.23. {capture} into a template array variable ........................................................................ 807.24. {config_load} ........................................................................................................... 827.25. function {config_load} with section ............................................................................. 837.26. Simple {extends} example .......................................................................................... 847.27. A simple {for} loop ............................................................................................... 857.28. Using the max attribute .............................................................................................. 857.29. Excution of {forelse} ........................................................................................... 867.30. A simple {foreach} loop ........................................................................................ 877.31. Demonstrates the an additional key variable .................................................................. 887.32. {foreach} with nested item and key ........................................................................... 897.33. Database example with {foreachelse} ........................................................................... 907.34. index example ........................................................................................................ 917.35. iteration example: is div by .................................................................................. 917.36. iteration example: is even/odd by .......................................................................... 927.37. first property example ........................................................................................... 937.38. last property example ............................................................................................. 937.39. show property example ............................................................................................. 947.40. total property example ........................................................................................... 947.41. Recursive menu {function} example ............................................................................. 957.42. {if} statements .......................................................................................................... 977.43. {if} with more examples ............................................................................................ 987.44. Simple {include} example .......................................................................................... 997.45. {include} passing variables ....................................................................................... 1007.46. {include} using parent scope ..................................................................................... 1007.47. {include} with disabled caching ................................................................................. 1017.48. {include} with individual cache lifetime ...................................................................... 1017.49. {include} with forced caching ................................................................................... 1017.50. {include} and assign to variable ................................................................................. 1017.51. Various {include} resource examples .......................................................................... 1027.52. function {include_php} ............................................................................................. 1037.53. function {insert} ...................................................................................................... 104

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7.54. {ldelim}, {rdelim} ................................................................................................... 1067.55. Another Javascript example ....................................................................................... 1067.56. {literal} tags ........................................................................................................... 1077.57. Preventing a template section from being cached ........................................................... 1087.58. php code within {php} tags ....................................................................................... 1087.59. {php} tags with global and assigning a variable ............................................................ 1087.60. Looping a simple array with {section} ........................................................................ 1117.61. {section} without an assigned array ............................................................................ 1127.62. Naming a {section} ................................................................................................. 1127.63. Looping an associative array with {section} ................................................................. 1137.64. {section} demonstrating the loop variable .................................................................. 1147.65. Nested {section}'s ................................................................................................... 1157.66. Database example with a {sectionelse} ........................................................................ 1167.67. {section} index property ........................................................................................ 1177.68. index, index_next and index_prev properties ................................................... 1187.69. A section's iteration property ............................................................................. 1197.70. {section} property first and last .......................................................................... 1207.71. {section} property loop .......................................................................................... 1217.72. show property ....................................................................................................... 1227.73. total property example .......................................................................................... 1227.74. {strip} tags ............................................................................................................. 1237.75. {while} loop ........................................................................................................... 1248.1. {counter} ................................................................................................................. 1268.2. {cycle} .................................................................................................................... 1278.3. {eval} ..................................................................................................................... 1288.4. Another {eval} example ............................................................................................. 1298.5. {fetch} examples ...................................................................................................... 1308.6. {html_checkboxes} .................................................................................................... 1328.7. Database example (eg PEAR or ADODB): ................................................................... 1338.8. {html_image} example ............................................................................................... 1348.9. Associative array with the options attribute ................................................................ 1358.10. Dropdown with seperate arrays for values and ouptut .............................................. 1368.11. Database example (eg ADODB or PEAR) ................................................................... 1378.12. Dropdown's with <optgroup> ................................................................................... 1388.13. {html_radios} first example ....................................................................................... 1398.14. {html_radios} second example ................................................................................... 1408.15. {html_radios} - Database example (eg PEAR or ADODB): ............................................. 1418.16. {html_select_date} ................................................................................................... 1448.17. {html_select_date} second example ............................................................................ 1458.18. {html_select_time} .................................................................................................. 1478.19. {html_table} ........................................................................................................... 1508.20. {mailto} example lines followed by the result ............................................................... 1528.21. {math} .................................................................................................................. 1548.22. {textformat} ........................................................................................................... 1569.1. Example of config file syntax ...................................................................................... 15811.1. SMARTY_DIR ....................................................................................................... 16512.1. Appending a local plugin dir ..................................................................................... 16712.2. Multiple $plugins_dir ............................................................................................... 16712.3. $debugging_ctrl on localhost ..................................................................................... 16812.4. Array of config #variables# ....................................................................................... 17112.5. $compile_id in a virtual host environment .................................................................... 17313.1. append ................................................................................................................... 17613.2. appendByRef .......................................................................................................... 17713.3. assign() .................................................................................................................. 178

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13.4. assignByRef() ......................................................................................................... 18013.5. clearAllAssign() ...................................................................................................... 18113.6. clearAllCache ......................................................................................................... 18213.7. clearAssign() .......................................................................................................... 18313.8. clearCache() ........................................................................................................... 18413.9. clearCompiledTemplate() .......................................................................................... 18513.10. clearConfig() ......................................................................................................... 18613.11. compileAllTemplates() ............................................................................................ 18713.12. compileAllTemplates() ............................................................................................ 18813.13. configLoad() ......................................................................................................... 18913.14. createData() .......................................................................................................... 19013.15. createTemplate() .................................................................................................... 19213.16. display() ............................................................................................................... 19413.17. Other display() template resource examples ................................................................ 19513.18. fetch() .................................................................................................................. 19713.19. Using fetch() to send an email ................................................................................. 19813.20. getConfigVars() ..................................................................................................... 19913.21. getRegisteredObject() ............................................................................................. 20013.22. getTags() .............................................................................................................. 20113.23. getTemplateVars .................................................................................................... 20213.24. isCached() ............................................................................................................ 20313.25. isCached() with multiple-cache template .................................................................... 20413.26. Loading filter plugins ............................................................................................. 20513.27. register a function plugin ........................................................................................ 20813.28. register block function plugin ................................................................................... 20913.29. register modifier plugin ........................................................................................... 20913.30. registerResource() .................................................................................................. 21113.31. templateExists() ..................................................................................................... 21213.32. unregister function plugin ........................................................................................ 21413.33. unregisterResource() ............................................................................................... 21613.34. testInstall() ........................................................................................................... 21714.1. Enabling caching ..................................................................................................... 21814.2. Setting $cache_lifetime per cache ............................................................................... 21914.3. Enabling $compile_check ......................................................................................... 21914.4. Using is_cached() .................................................................................................... 22014.5. Clearing the cache ................................................................................................... 22014.6. Passing a $cache_id to display() ................................................................................. 22114.7. Passing a cache_id to is_cached() ............................................................................... 22214.8. Clearing all caches for a particular $cache_id ............................................................... 22214.9. $cache_id groups ..................................................................................................... 22314.10. Preventing a plugin's output from being cached ........................................................... 22414.11. Preventing a whole passage of a template from being cached ......................................... 22515.1. Setting security policy by extending the Smarty_Security class ......................................... 22715.2. Setting security policy by instance of the Smarty_Security class ....................................... 22715.3. Enable security with the default settings ...................................................................... 22815.4. changing Smarty settings by template .......................................................................... 22815.5. register plugins by template ....................................................................................... 22815.6. Template inheritance example .................................................................................... 23015.7. Template inheritance by template resource extends: .................................................. 23115.8. Stream from PHP .................................................................................................... 23115.9. Stream from Template .............................................................................................. 23115.10. Stream Variable ..................................................................................................... 23215.11. Using a registered or assigned object ......................................................................... 23315.12. static class access syntax ........................................................................................ 234

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15.13. Using a template prefilter ........................................................................................ 23415.14. Using a template postfilter ....................................................................................... 23515.15. Using a template outputfilter .................................................................................... 23615.16. Example using MySQL as a cache source .................................................................. 23715.17. Using templates from the $template_dir ..................................................................... 23815.18. Using templates from any directory ........................................................................... 23915.19. Using templates from windows file paths ................................................................... 23915.20. Using templates from strings ................................................................................... 24015.21. Using template inheritance from the PHP script ........................................................... 24015.22. Using custom resources .......................................................................................... 24215.23. Using the default template handler function ................................................................ 24316.1. function plugin with output ....................................................................................... 24616.2. function plugin without output ................................................................................... 24716.3. A simple modifier plugin .......................................................................................... 24816.4. More complex modifier plugin ................................................................................... 24916.5. block function ......................................................................................................... 25016.6. A simple compiler function ....................................................................................... 25116.7. prefilter plugin ........................................................................................................ 25216.8. postfilter plugin ....................................................................................................... 25316.9. An output filter plugin ............................................................................................. 25416.10. resource plugin ...................................................................................................... 25616.11. insert plugin .......................................................................................................... 25717.1. Smarty errors .......................................................................................................... 26017.2. PHP parsing errors .................................................................................................. 26017.3. Other common errors ............................................................................................... 26118.1. Printing &nbsp; when a variable is empty .................................................................... 26218.2. Assigning a template variable its default value .............................................................. 26218.3. Passing the title variable to the header template ............................................................ 26318.4. Using date_format ................................................................................................... 26418.5. Converting form date elements back to a timestamp ....................................................... 26518.6. Using {insert} to write a WML Content-Type header ..................................................... 26618.7. componentized template ............................................................................................ 26718.8. Example of template the Obfuscating an email address ................................................... 268

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PrefaceThe Philosophy

The Smarty design was largely driven by these goals:

• clean separation of presentation from application code

• PHP backend, Smarty template frontend

• compliment PHP, not replace it

• fast development/deployment for programmers and designers

• quick and easy to maintain

• syntax easy to understand, no PHP knowledge necessary

• flexibility for custom development

• security: insulation from PHP

• free, open source

What is Smarty?

Smarty is PHP a framework for separating presentation (HTML/CSS) from application logic (PHP). Thisimplies that PHP code is application logic, and is separated from the presentation.

Two camps of thought

When it comes to templating in PHP, there are basically two camps of thought. The first camp exclaims that"PHP is a template engine". Simply because PHP can mix with presentation doesn't mean it's a preferablechoice. The only virtue to this approach is speed from a pure script-execution point of view. However, thePHP syntax is quite ugly and doesn't mix well with tagged markup such as HTML.

The second camp exclaims that presentation should be void of all programming code, and instead usesimple tags to indicate where application content is revealed. This approach is common with otherdevelopment languages, and is also the approach that Smarty takes. The idea is to keep the templatesfocused squarely on presentation, not application code, and with as little overhead as possible.

Why is separating PHP from templates important?

Two major benefits:

• SYNTAX: Templates typically consist of semantic markup such as HTML. PHP syntax works well forapplication code, but quickly degenerates when mixed with HTML. Smarty's simple {tag} syntax isdesigned specifically to express presentation. Smarty focuses your templates on presentation and lesson "code". This lends to quicker template deployment and easier maintenance. Smarty syntax requiresno working knowledge of PHP, and is intuitive for programmers and non-programmers alike.

• INSULATION: When PHP is mixed with templates, there are no restrictions on what type of logic canbe injected into a template. Smarty insulates the templates from PHP, creating a controlled separation ofpresentation from business logic. Smarty also has security features that can further enforce restrictionson templates.

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Web designers and PHP

A common question: "Web designers have to learn a syntax anyways, why not PHP?". Of course webdesigners can learn PHP, but this isn't about their ability to learn it. They learn PHP, then start stuffingthings into templates that don't belong there (you just handed them a swiss-army knife when they justneeded a knife.) You can teach them the rules of application development, but then you may as wellcall them developers. Smarty gives web designers exactly the tools they need, and gives developers fine-grained control over those tools.

Implementation is Important

A common problem with Smarty development is poor implementation. If you abuse Smarty fundamentalsor come across an application that does (i.e. injecting PHP in templates), you may end up with somethingworse than what Smarty was intended to resolve. See the Best Practices section on the Smarty website forexamples of what to look out for.

How does it work?

Under the hood, Smarty "compiles" (basically copies and converts) the templates into PHP scripts. Thishappens once when each template is first invoked, and then the compiled versions are used from that pointforward. Smarty takes care of this for you, so the template designer just edits the Smarty templates andnever has to manage the compiled versions. This approach keeps the templates easy to maintain, and yetkeeps execution times extremely fast since the compiled code is just PHP. And of course, all PHP scriptstake advantage of PHP op-code caches such as APC.

Template Inheritance

Template inheritance is new to Smarty 3, and it's one of many great new features. Before templateinheritance, we managed our templates in pieces such as header and footer templates. This organizationlends itself to many problems that require some hoop-jumping, such as managing content within the header/footer on a per-page basis. With template inheritance, instead of including other templates we maintainour templates as single pages. We can then manipulate blocks of content within by inheriting them. Thismakes templates intuitive, efficient and easy to manage. See the Template Inheritance section of th Smartywebsite for more info.

Why not use XML/XSLT syntax?

There are a couple of good reasons. First, Smarty can be used for more than just XML/HTML basedtemplates, such as generating emails, javascript, CSV, and PDF documents. Second, XML/XSLT syntax iseven more verbose and fragile than PHP code! It is perfect for computers, but horrible for humans. Smartyis about being easy to read, understand and maintain.

Template Security

Although Smarty insulates you from PHP, you still have the option to use it in certain ways if you wish.Template security forces the restriction of PHP (and select Smarty functions.) This is useful if you havethird parties editing templates, and you don't want to unleash the full power of PHP or Smarty to them.

Integration

Sometimes Smarty gets compared to Model-View-Controller (MVC) frameworks. Smarty is not an MVC,it is just the presentation layer, much like the View (V) part of an MVC. As a matter of fact, Smartycan easily be integrated as the view layer of an MVC. Many of the more popular ones have integrationinstructions for Smarty, or you may find some help here in the forums and documentation.

Other Template Engines

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Smarty is not the only engine following the "Separate Programming Code from Presentation" philosophy.For instance, some Python developers decided that mixing Python with HTML/CSS wasn't such agreat idea, and built some template engines around the same principles such as Django Templates andCheetahTemplate.

What Smarty is Not

Smarty is not meant to be a stand-alone tool for developing websites from scratch. Smarty is a tool tofacilitate the presentation layer of your application. You may decide to use an existing framework withSmarty, or you might build your own codebase and use Smarty for the frontend. Either way, Smarty is agreat way to decouple presentation from your application code.

Summary

Whether you are using Smarty for a small website or massive enterprise solution, it can accommodate yourneeds. There are numerous features that make Smarty a great choice:

• separation of PHP from HTML/CSS just makes sense

• readability for organization and management

• security for 3rd party template access

• feature completeness, and easily extendable to your own needs

• massive user base, Smarty is here to stay

• LGPL license for commercial use

• 100% free to use, open source project

Should I use Smarty?

Smarty's long track record has indicated that it significantly improves the speed of deployment andmaintenance of templates. If maintenance is crucial to your application (or business), Smarty is certainlya good fit.

However, Smarty is not a magic bullet. It is a tool for managing presentation. Using Smarty, anothertemplate engine, or plain PHP is largely going to be determined by your own requirements and tastes. Itis certainly possible to maintain presentation mixed with PHP if you are happy with that. You may nothave a need for Smarty if you don't need cleaner template syntax, template inheritance, caching, plugins,security (i.e. insulation from PHP), quicker presentational deployment and easier maintenance. The bestapproach is to ask lots of questions, install and test Smarty for yourself and make an informed decisionfor your project.

Part I. Getting Started

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Table of Contents1. What is Smarty? ............................................................................................................. 32. Installation ..................................................................................................................... 5

Requirements ............................................................................................................. 5Basic Installation ........................................................................................................ 5Extended Setup .......................................................................................................... 9

3

Chapter 1. What is Smarty?Smarty is a template engine for PHP. More specifically, it facilitates a manageable way to separateapplication logic and content from its presentation. This is best described in a situation where theapplication programmer and the template designer play different roles, or in most cases are not the sameperson.

For example, let's say you are creating a web page that is displaying a newspaper article.

• The article $headline, $tagline, $author and $body are content elements, they contain noinformation about how they will be presented. They are passed into Smarty by the application.

• Then the template designer edits the templates and uses a combination of HTML tags and template tagsto format the presentation of these variables with elements such as tables, div's, background colors, fontsizes, style sheets, svg etc.

• One day the programmer needs to change the way the article content is retrieved, ie a change inapplication logic. This change does not affect the template designer, the content will still arrive in thetemplate exactly the same.

• Likewise, if the template designer wants to completely redesign the templates, this would require nochange to the application logic.

• Therefore, the programmer can make changes to the application logic without the need to restructuretemplates, and the template designer can make changes to templates without breaking application logic.

One design goal of Smarty is the separation of business logic and presentation logic.

• This means templates can certainly contain logic under the condition that it is for presentation only.Things such as including other templates, alternating table row colors, upper-casing a variable, loopingover an array of data and displaying it are examples of presentation logic.

• This does not mean however that Smarty forces a separation of business and presentation logic. Smartyhas no knowledge of which is which, so placing business logic in the template is your own doing.

• Also, if you desire no logic in your templates you certainly can do so by boiling the content down totext and variables only.

Some of Smarty's features:

• It is extremely fast.

• It is efficient since the PHP parser does the dirty work.

• No template parsing overhead, only compiles once.

• It is smart about recompiling only the template files that have changed.

• You can easily create your own custom functions and variable modifiers, so the template language isextremely extensible.

• Configurable template {delimiter} tag syntax, so you can use {$foo}, {{$foo}}, <!--{$foo}-->, etc.

• The {if}..{elseif}..{else}..{/if} constructs are passed to the PHP parser, so the{if...} expression syntax can be as simple or as complex an evaluation as you like.

What is Smarty?

4

• Allows unlimited nesting of sections, if's etc.

• Built-in caching support

• Arbitrary template sources

• Custom cache handling functions

• Template Inheritance for easy management of template content.

• Plugin architecture

5

Chapter 2. InstallationRequirements

Smarty requires a web server running PHP 4.0.6 or greater.

Basic InstallationInstall the Smarty library files which are in the /libs/ sub directory of the distribution. These are .phpfiles that you SHOULD NOT edit. They are shared among all applications and only get changed whenyou upgrade to a new version of Smarty.

In the examples below the Smarty tarball has been unpacked to:

• /usr/local/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/ for *nix machines

• and c:\webroot\libs\Smarty-v.e.r\ for the windows environment.

Example 2.1. Required Smarty library files

Smarty-v.e.r/ libs/ Smarty.class.php debug.tpl sysplugins/* (everything) plugins/* (everything)

Smarty uses a PHP constant [http://php.net/define] named SMARTY_DIR which is the full system filepath to the Smarty libs/ directory. Basically, if your application can find the Smarty.class.phpfile, you do not need to set the SMARTY_DIR as Smarty will figure it out on its own. Therefore, ifSmarty.class.php is not in your include_path [http://php.net/ini.core.php#ini.include-path], or youdo not supply an absolute path to it in your application, then you must define SMARTY_DIR manually.SMARTY_DIR must include a trailing slash/.

Here's how you create an instance of Smarty in your PHP scripts:

<?php// NOTE: Smarty has a capital 'S'require_once('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty();?>

Try running the above script. If you get an error saying the Smarty.class.php file could not be found,you need to do one of the following:

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Example 2.2. Set SMARTY_DIR constant manually

<?php// *nix style (note capital 'S')define('SMARTY_DIR', '/usr/local/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');

// windows styledefine('SMARTY_DIR', 'c:/webroot/libs/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');

// hack version example that works on both *nix and windows// Smarty is assumend to be in 'includes/' dir under current scriptdefine('SMARTY_DIR',str_replace("\\","/",getcwd()).'/includes/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');

require_once(SMARTY_DIR . 'Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty();?>

Example 2.3. Supply absolute path to library file

<?php// *nix style (note capital 'S')require_once('/usr/local/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/Smarty.class.php');

// windows stylerequire_once('c:/webroot/libs/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/Smarty.class.php');

$smarty = new Smarty();?>

Example 2.4. Add the library path to the php.ini file

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Paths and Directories ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; *nix: "/path1:/path2"include_path = ".:/usr/share/php:/usr/local/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/"

; Windows: "\path1;\path2"include_path = ".;c:\php\includes;c:\webroot\libs\Smarty-v.e.r\libs\"

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Example 2.5. Appending the include path in a php script with ini_set()[http://php.net/ini-set]

<?php// *nixini_set('include_path', ini_get('include_path').PATH_SEPARATOR.'/usr/local/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');

// windowsini_set('include_path', ini_get('include_path').PATH_SEPARATOR.'c:/webroot/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');?>

Now that the library files are in place, it's time to setup the Smarty directories for your application:

• Smarty requires four directories which are by default named templates/, templates_c/,configs/ and cache/

• Each of these are definable by the Smarty class properties $template_dir, $compile_dir,$config_dir, and $cache_dir respectively

• It is highly recommended that you setup a separate set of these directories for each application that willuse Smarty

• You can verify if your system has the correct access rights for these directories with testInstall().

For our installation example, we will be setting up the Smarty environment for a guest book application.We picked an application only for the purpose of a directory naming convention. You can use the sameenvironment for any application, just replace guestbook/ with the name of your application.

Example 2.6. What the file structure looks like

/usr/local/lib/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/ Smarty.class.php debug.tpl sysplugins/* plugins/*

/web/www.example.com/ guestbook/ templates/ index.tpl templates_c/ configs/ cache/ htdocs/ index.php

Be sure that you know the location of your web server's document root as a file path. In the followingexamples, the document root is /web/www.example.com/guestbook/htdocs/. The Smarty

Installation

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directories are only accessed by the Smarty library and never accessed directly by the web browser.Therefore to avoid any security concerns, it is recommended (but not mandatory) to place these directoriesoutside of the web server's document root.

You will need as least one file under your document root, and that is the script accessed by the web browser.We will name our script index.php, and place it in a subdirectory under the document root /htdocs/.

Smarty will need write access (windows users please ignore) to the $compile_dir and $cache_dirdirectories (templates_c/ and cache/), so be sure the web server user account can write to them.

Note

This is usually user “nobody” and group “nobody”. For OS X users, the default is user “www”and group “www”. If you are using Apache, you can look in your httpd.conf file to see whatuser and group are being used.

Example 2.7. Permissions and making directories writable

chown nobody:nobody /web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates_c/chmod 770 /web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates_c/

chown nobody:nobody /web/www.example.com/guestbook/cache/chmod 770 /web/www.example.com/guestbook/cache/

Note

chmod 770 will be fairly tight security, it only allows user “nobody” and group “nobody” read/write access to the directories. If you would like to open up read access to anyone (mostly foryour own convenience of viewing these files), you can use 775 instead.

We need to create the index.tpl file that Smarty will display. This needs to be located in the$template_dir.

Example 2.8. /web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates/index.tpl

{* Smarty *}

Hello {$name}, welcome to Smarty!

Technical Note

{* Smarty *} is a template comment. It is not required, but it is good practice to startall your template files with this comment. It makes the file easy to recognize regardless of thefile extension. For example, text editors could recognize the file and turn on special syntaxhighlighting.

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Now lets edit index.php. We'll create an instance of Smarty, assign() a template variable anddisplay() the index.tpl file.

Example 2.9. Editing /web/www.example.com/docs/guestbook/index.php

<?php

require_once(SMARTY_DIR . 'Smarty.class.php');

$smarty = new Smarty();

$smarty->template_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates/';$smarty->compile_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates_c/';$smarty->config_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/configs/';$smarty->cache_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/cache/';

$smarty->assign('name','Ned');

//** un-comment the following line to show the debug console//$smarty->debugging = true;

$smarty->display('index.tpl');

?>

Note

In our example, we are setting absolute paths to all of the Smarty directories. If /web/www.example.com/guestbook/ is within your PHP include_path, then these settings arenot necessary. However, it is more efficient and (from experience) less error-prone to set them toabsolute paths. This ensures that Smarty is getting files from the directories you intended.

Now navigate to the index.php file with the web browser. You should see "Hello Ned, welcome toSmarty!"

You have completed the basic setup for Smarty!

Extended SetupThis is a continuation of the basic installation, please read that first!

A slightly more flexible way to setup Smarty is to extend the class [http://php.net/ref.classobj] and initializeyour Smarty environment. So instead of repeatedly setting directory paths, assigning the same vars, etc.,we can do that in one place.

Lets create a new directory /php/includes/guestbook/ and make a new file called setup.php.In our example environment, /php/includes is in our include_path. Be sure you set this up too,or use absolute file paths.

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Example 2.10. /php/includes/guestbook/setup.php

<?php

// load Smarty libraryrequire('Smarty.class.php');

// The setup.php file is a good place to load// required application library files, and you// can do that right here. An example:// require('guestbook/guestbook.lib.php');

class Smarty_GuestBook extends Smarty {

function Smarty_GuestBook() {

// Class Constructor. // These automatically get set with each new instance.

parent::__construct();

$this->template_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates/'; $this->compile_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/templates_c/'; $this->config_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/configs/'; $this->cache_dir = '/web/www.example.com/guestbook/cache/';

$this->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT; $this->assign('app_name', 'Guest Book'); }

}?>

Now lets alter the index.php file to use setup.php:

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Example 2.11. /web/www.example.com/guestbook/htdocs/index.php

<?php

require('guestbook/setup.php');

$smarty = new Smarty_GuestBook();

$smarty->assign('name','Ned');

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

Now you see it is quite simple to bring up an instance of Smarty, just use Smarty_GuestBook() whichautomatically initializes everything for our application.

Part II. Smarty For Template Designers

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Table of Contents3. Basic Syntax ................................................................................................................ 16

Comments ............................................................................................................... 16Variables ................................................................................................................. 18Functions ................................................................................................................. 20Attributes ................................................................................................................ 20Embedding Vars in Double Quotes .............................................................................. 21Math ....................................................................................................................... 22Escaping Smarty Parsing ............................................................................................ 23

4. Variables ..................................................................................................................... 26Variables assigned from PHP ...................................................................................... 26

Associative arrays ............................................................................................. 27Array indexes ................................................................................................... 28Objects ............................................................................................................ 29

Variable scopes ........................................................................................................ 30Variables loaded from config files ............................................................................... 31{$smarty} reserved variable ........................................................................................ 33

Request variables .............................................................................................. 33{$smarty.now} ................................................................................................. 34{$smarty.const} ................................................................................................ 34{$smarty.capture} ............................................................................................. 34{$smarty.config} ............................................................................................... 35{$smarty.section} .............................................................................................. 35{$smarty.template} ............................................................................................ 35{$smarty.current_dir} ........................................................................................ 35{$smarty.version} ............................................................................................. 35{$smarty.block.child} ........................................................................................ 35{$smarty.block.parent} ....................................................................................... 35{$smarty.ldelim}, {$smarty.rdelim} ..................................................................... 35

5. Variable Modifiers ........................................................................................................ 36capitalize ................................................................................................................. 37cat .......................................................................................................................... 38count_characters ....................................................................................................... 39count_paragraphs ...................................................................................................... 40count_sentences ........................................................................................................ 41count_words ............................................................................................................. 42date_format .............................................................................................................. 43default .................................................................................................................... 46escape ..................................................................................................................... 47indent ..................................................................................................................... 49lower ...................................................................................................................... 51nl2br ....................................................................................................................... 51regex_replace ........................................................................................................... 52replace .................................................................................................................... 53spacify .................................................................................................................... 54string_format ............................................................................................................ 55strip ........................................................................................................................ 56strip_tags ................................................................................................................. 57truncate ................................................................................................................... 58upper ...................................................................................................................... 60wordwrap ................................................................................................................ 61

6. Combining Modifiers ..................................................................................................... 64

Smarty For Template Designers

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7. Built-in Functions ......................................................................................................... 65{$var=...} ................................................................................................................ 65{append} ................................................................................................................. 67{assign} .................................................................................................................. 68{block} ................................................................................................................... 71{call} ...................................................................................................................... 76{capture} ................................................................................................................. 78{config_load} ........................................................................................................... 80{debug} .................................................................................................................. 83{extends} ................................................................................................................ 83{for} ....................................................................................................................... 84{foreach},{foreachelse} ............................................................................................. 86

@index ........................................................................................................... 90@iteration ........................................................................................................ 91@first ............................................................................................................. 92@last .............................................................................................................. 93@show ............................................................................................................ 93@total ............................................................................................................. 94

{function} ............................................................................................................... 94{if},{elseif},{else} .................................................................................................... 96{include} ................................................................................................................. 98{include_php} ........................................................................................................ 102{insert} ................................................................................................................. 103{ldelim},{rdelim} .................................................................................................... 105{literal} ................................................................................................................. 107{nocache} .............................................................................................................. 107{php} .................................................................................................................... 108{section},{sectionelse} ............................................................................................. 109

.index ............................................................................................................ 116

.index_prev .................................................................................................... 117

.index_next .................................................................................................... 117

.iteration ........................................................................................................ 118

.first .............................................................................................................. 120

.last ............................................................................................................... 120

.rownum ........................................................................................................ 120

.loop ............................................................................................................. 120

.show ............................................................................................................ 121

.total ............................................................................................................. 122{strip} ................................................................................................................... 122{while} ................................................................................................................. 123

8. Custom Functions ........................................................................................................ 125{counter} ............................................................................................................... 125{cycle} .................................................................................................................. 126{eval} ................................................................................................................... 127{fetch} .................................................................................................................. 129{html_checkboxes} .................................................................................................. 130{html_image} ......................................................................................................... 133{html_options} ....................................................................................................... 134{html_radios} ......................................................................................................... 138{html_select_date} .................................................................................................. 141{html_select_time} .................................................................................................. 145{html_table} ........................................................................................................... 148{mailto} ................................................................................................................ 151{math} .................................................................................................................. 152

Smarty For Template Designers

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{textformat} ........................................................................................................... 1559. Config Files ................................................................................................................ 15810. Debugging Console .................................................................................................... 160

16

Chapter 3. Basic SyntaxAll Smarty template tags are enclosed within delimiters. By default these are { and }, but they can bechanged.

For the examples in this manual, we will assume that you are using the default delimiters. In Smarty,all content outside of delimiters is displayed as static content, or unchanged. When Smarty encounterstemplate tags, it attempts to interpret them, and displays the appropriate output in their place.

CommentsTemplate comments are surrounded by asterisks, and that is surrounded by the delimiter tags like so:

{* this is a comment *}

Smarty comments are NOT displayed in the final output of the template, unlike <!-- HTML comments-->. These are useful for making internal notes in the templates which no one will see ;-)

Basic Syntax

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Example 3.1. Comments within a template{* I am a Smarty comment, I don't exist in the compiled output *}<html><head><title>{$title}</title></head><body>

{* another single line smarty comment *}<!-- HTML comment that is sent to the browser -->

{* this multiline smarty comment is not sent to browser*}

{*********************************************************Multi line comment block with credits block @ author: bg@example.com @ maintainer: support@example.com @ para: var that sets block style @ css: the style output**********************************************************}

{* The header file with the main logo and stuff *}{include file='header.tpl'}

{* Dev note: the $includeFile var is assigned in foo.php script *}<!-- Displays main content block -->{include file=$includeFile}

{* this <select> block is redundant *}{*<select name="company"> {html_options options=$vals selected=$selected_id}</select>*}

<!-- Show header from affiliate is disabled -->{* $affiliate|upper *}

{* you cannot nest comments *}{*<select name="company"> {* <option value="0">-- none -- </option> *} {html_options options=$vals selected=$selected_id}</select>*}

</body></html>

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VariablesTemplate variables start with the $dollar sign. They can contain numbers, letters and underscores, muchlike a PHP variable [http://php.net/language.variables]. You can reference arrays by index numerically ornon-numerically. Also reference object properties and methods.

Config file variables are an exception to the $dollar syntax and are instead referenced with surrounding#hashmarks#, or via the $smarty.config variable.

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19

Example 3.2. Variables

{$foo} <-- displaying a simple variable (non array/object){$foo[4]} <-- display the 5th element of a zero-indexed array{$foo.bar} <-- display the "bar" key value of an array, similar to PHP $foo['bar']{$foo.$bar} <-- display variable key value of an array, similar to PHP $foo[$bar]{$foo->bar} <-- display the object property "bar"{$foo->bar()} <-- display the return value of object method "bar"{#foo#} <-- display the config file variable "foo"{$smarty.config.foo} <-- synonym for {#foo#}{$foo[bar]} <-- syntax only valid in a section loop, see {section}{assign var=foo value='baa'}{$foo} <-- displays "baa", see {assign}

Many other combinations are allowed

{$foo.bar.baz}{$foo.$bar.$baz}{$foo[4].baz}{$foo[4].$baz}{$foo.bar.baz[4]}{$foo->bar($baz,2,$bar)} <-- passing parameters{"foo"} <-- static values are allowed

{* display the server variable "SERVER_NAME" ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'])*}{$smarty.server.SERVER_NAME}

Math and embedding tags:

{$x+$y} // will output the sum of x and y.{assign var=foo value=$x+$y} // in attributes {$foo[$x+3]} // as array index{$foo={counter}+3} // tags within tags{$foo="this is message {counter}"} // tags within double quoted strings

Defining Arrays:

{assign var=foo value=[1,2,3]}{assign var=foo value=['y'=>'yellow','b'=>'blue']}{assign var=foo value=[1,[9,8],3]} // can be nested

Short variable assignment:

{$foo=$bar+2}{$foo = strlen($bar)} // function in assignment{$foo = myfunct( ($x+$y)*3 )} // as function parameter {$foo.bar=1} // assign to specific array element{$foo.bar.baz=1} {$foo[]=1} // appending to an array

Smarty "dot" syntax (note: embedded {} are used to address ambiguities):

{$foo.a.b.c} => $foo['a']['b']['c'] {$foo.a.$b.c} => $foo['a'][$b]['c'] // with variable index{$foo.a.{$b+4}.c} => $foo['a'][$b+4]['c'] // with expression as index{$foo.a.{$b.c}} => $foo['a'][$b['c']] // with nested index

PHP-like syntax, alternative to "dot" syntax:

{$foo[1]} // normal access{$foo['bar']}{$foo['bar'][1]}{$foo[$x+$x]} // index may contain any expression{$foo[$bar[1]]} // nested index{$foo[section_name]} // smarty {section} access, not array access!

Variable variables:

$foo // normal variable$foo_{$bar} // variable name containing other variable $foo_{$x+$y} // variable name containing expressions $foo_{$bar}_buh_{$blar} // variable name with multiple segments{$foo_{$x}} // will output the variable $foo_1 if $x has a value of 1.

Object chaining:

{$object->method1($x)->method2($y)}

Direct PHP function access:

{time()}

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20

Note

Although Smarty can handle some very complex expressions and syntax, it is a good rule ofthumb to keep the template syntax minimal and focused on presentation. If you find your templatesyntax getting too complex, it may be a good idea to move the bits that do not deal explicitly withpresentation to PHP by way of plugins or modifiers.

Request variables such as $_GET, $_SESSION, etc are available via the reserved $smarty variable.

See also $smarty, config variables {assign} and assign().

FunctionsEvery Smarty tag either prints a variable or invokes some sort of function. These are processedand displayed by enclosing the function and its attributes within delimiters like so: {funcnameattr1="val1" attr2="val2"}.

Example 3.3. function syntax

{config_load file="colors.conf"}

{include file="header.tpl"}{insert file="banner_ads.tpl" title="My Site"}

{if $logged_in} Welcome, <span style="color:{#fontColor#}">{$name}!</span>{else} hi, {$name}{/if}

{include file="footer.tpl"}

• Both built-in functions and custom functions have the same syntax within templates.

• Built-in functions are the inner workings of Smarty, such as {if}, {section} and {strip}. Thereshould be no need to change or modify them.

• Custom functions are additional functions implemented via plugins. They can be modified to yourliking, or you can create new ones. {html_options} is an example of a custom function.

See also registerPlugin()

AttributesMost of the functions take attributes that specify or modify their behavior. Attributes to Smarty functionsare much like HTML attributes. Static values don't have to be enclosed in quotes, but it is required forliteral strings. Variables with or without modifers may also be used, and should not be in quotes. You caneven use PHP function results, plugin results and complex expressions.

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Some attributes require boolean values (TRUE or FALSE). These can be specified as true and false.If an attribute has no value assigned it gets the default boolean value of true.

Example 3.4. function attribute syntax

{include file="header.tpl"}

{include file="header.tpl" nocache} // is equivalent to nocache=true

{include file="header.tpl" attrib_name="attrib value"}

{include file=$includeFile}

{include file=#includeFile# title="My Title"}

{assign var=foo value={counter}} // plugin result

{assign var=foo value=substr($bar,2,5)} // PHP function result

{assign var=foo value=$bar|strlen} // using modifer

{assign var=foo value=$buh+$bar|strlen} // more complex expresiion

{html_select_date display_days=true}

{mailto address="smarty@example.com"}

<select name="company_id"> {html_options options=$companies selected=$company_id}</select>

Note

Although Smarty can handle some very complex expressions and syntax, it is a good rule ofthumb to keep the template syntax minimal and focused on presentation. If you find your templatesyntax getting too complex, it may be a good idea to move the bits that do not deal explicitly withpresentation to PHP by way of plugins or modifiers.

Embedding Vars in Double Quotes• Smarty will recognize assigned variables embedded in "double quotes" so long as the variable name

contains only numbers, letters and under_scores. See naming [http://php.net/language.variables] formore detail.

• With any other characters, for example a .period or $object>reference, then the variable mustbe surrounded by `backticks`.

• In addition Smarty3 does allow embedded Smarty tags in double quoted strings. This is usefull if youwant to include variables with modifers, plugin or PHP function results.

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Example 3.5. Syntax examples

{func var="test $foo test"} // sees $foo{func var="test $foo_bar test"} // sees $foo_bar{func var="test `$foo[0]` test"} // sees $foo[0]{func var="test `$foo[bar]` test"} // sees $foo[bar]{func var="test $foo.bar test"} // sees $foo (not $foo.bar){func var="test `$foo.bar` test"} // sees $foo.bar{func var="test `$foo.bar` test"|escape} // modifiers outside quotes!{func var="test {$foo|escape} test"} // modifiers inside quotes!{func var="test {time()} test"} // PHP function result{func var="test {counter} test"} // plugin result{func var="variable foo is {if !$foo}not {/if} defined"} // Smarty block function

Example 3.6. Examples

{* will replace $tpl_name with value *}{include file="subdir/$tpl_name.tpl"}

{* does NOT replace $tpl_name *}{include file='subdir/$tpl_name.tpl'} // vars require double quotes!

{* must have backticks as it contains a dot "." *}{cycle values="one,two,`$smarty.config.myval`"}

{* must have backticks as it contains a dot "." *}{include file="`$module.contact`.tpl"}

{* can use variable with dot syntax *}{include file="`$module.$view`.tpl"}

Note

Although Smarty can handle some very complex expressions and syntax, it is a good rule ofthumb to keep the template syntax minimal and focused on presentation. If you find your templatesyntax getting too complex, it may be a good idea to move the bits that do not deal explicitly withpresentation to PHP by way of plugins or modifiers.

See also escape.

MathMath can be applied directly to variable values.

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Example 3.7. math examples

{$foo+1}

{$foo*$bar}

{* some more complicated examples *}

{$foo->bar-$bar[1]*$baz->foo->bar()-3*7}

{if ($foo+$bar.test%$baz*134232+10+$b+10)}

{$foo|truncate:"`$fooTruncCount/$barTruncFactor-1`"}

{assign var="foo" value="`$foo+$bar`"}

Note

Although Smarty can handle some very complex expressions and syntax, it is a good rule ofthumb to keep the template syntax minimal and focused on presentation. If you find your templatesyntax getting too complex, it may be a good idea to move the bits that do not deal explicitly withpresentation to PHP by way of plugins or modifiers.

Escaping Smarty ParsingIt is sometimes desirable or even necessary to have Smarty ignore sections it would otherwise parse. Aclassic example is embedding Javascript or CSS code in a template. The problem arises as those languagesuse the { and } characters which are also the default delimiters for Smarty.

Note

A good practice for avoiding escapement altogether is by separating your Javascript/CSS intotheir own files and use standard HTML methods to access them. This will also take advantage ofbrowser script caching. When you need to embed Smarty variables/functions into your Javascript/CSS, then the following applies.

In Smarty templates, the { and } braces will be ignored so long as they are surrounded by white space.This behavior can be disabled by setting the Smarty class variable $auto_literal to false.

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24

Example 3.8. Using the auto-literal feature

<script> // the following braces are ignored by Smarty // since they are surrounded by whitespace function foobar { alert('foobar!'); } // this one will need literal escapement {literal} function bazzy {alert('foobar!');} {/literal}</script>

{literal}..{/literal} blocks are used for escaping blocks of template logic.You can also escape the braces individually with {ldelim},{rdelim} tags or{$smarty.ldelim},{$smarty.rdelim} variables.

Smarty's default delimiters { and } cleanly represent presentational content. However if another setof delimiters suit your needs better, you can change them with Smarty's $left_delimiter and$right_delimiter values.

Note

Changing delimiters affects ALL template syntax and escapement. Be sure to clear out cache andcompiled files if you decide to change them.

Basic Syntax

25

Example 3.9. changing delimiters example

<?php

$smarty->left_delimiter = '<!--{';$smarty->right_delimiter = '}-->';

$smarty->assign('foo', 'bar');$smarty->assign('name', 'Albert');$smarty->display('example.tpl');

?>

Where the template is:

Welcome <!--{$name}--> to Smarty<script language="javascript"> var foo = <!--{$foo}-->; function dosomething() { alert("foo is " + foo); } dosomething();</script>

26

Chapter 4. VariablesSmarty has several different types of variables. The type of the variable depends on what symbol it isprefixed or enclosed within.

Variables in Smarty can be either displayed directly or used as arguments for functions, attributes andmodifiers, inside conditional expressions, etc. To print a variable, simply enclose it in the delimiters sothat it is the only thing contained between them.

Example 4.1. Example variables

{$Name}

{$product.part_no} <b>{$product.description}</b>

{$Contacts[row].Phone}

<body bgcolor="{#bgcolor#}">

Note

An easy way to examine assigned Smarty variables is with the debugging console.

Variables assigned from PHPAssigned variables that are referenced by preceding them with a dollar ($) sign.

Variables

27

Example 4.2. Assigned variables

PHP code

<?php

$smarty = new Smarty();

$smarty->assign('firstname', 'Doug');$smarty->assign('lastname', 'Evans');$smarty->assign('meetingPlace', 'New York');

$smarty->display('index.tpl');

?>

index.tpl source:

Hello {$firstname} {$lastname}, glad to see you can make it.<br />{* this will not work as $variables are case sensitive *}This weeks meeting is in {$meetingplace}.{* this will work *}This weeks meeting is in {$meetingPlace}.

This above would output:

Hello Doug Evans, glad to see you can make it.<br />This weeks meeting is in .This weeks meeting is in New York.

Associative arrays

You can also reference associative array variables by specifying the key after a dot "." symbol.

Variables

28

Example 4.3. Accessing associative array variables

<?php$smarty->assign('Contacts', array('fax' => '555-222-9876', 'email' => 'zaphod@slartibartfast.example.com', 'phone' => array('home' => '555-444-3333', 'cell' => '555-111-1234') ) );$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

index.tpl source:

{$Contacts.fax}<br />{$Contacts.email}<br />{* you can print arrays of arrays as well *}{$Contacts.phone.home}<br />{$Contacts.phone.cell}<br />

this will output:

555-222-9876<br />zaphod@slartibartfast.example.com<br />555-444-3333<br />555-111-1234<br />

Array indexes

You can reference arrays by their index, much like native PHP syntax.

Variables

29

Example 4.4. Accessing arrays by index

<?php$smarty->assign('Contacts', array( '555-222-9876', 'zaphod@slartibartfast.example.com', array('555-444-3333', '555-111-1234') ));$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

index.tpl source:

{$Contacts[0]}<br />{$Contacts[1]}<br />{* you can print arrays of arrays as well *}{$Contacts[2][0]}<br />{$Contacts[2][1]}<br />

This will output:

555-222-9876<br />zaphod@slartibartfast.example.com<br />555-444-3333<br />555-111-1234<br />

Objects

Properties of objects assigned from PHP can be referenced by specifying the property name after the -> symbol.

Variables

30

Example 4.5. Accessing object properties

name: {$person->name}<br />email: {$person->email}<br />

this will output:

name: Zaphod Beeblebrox<br />email: zaphod@slartibartfast.example.com<br />

Variable scopesYou have the choice to assign variables to the scope of the main Smarty object, data objects createdwith createData(), and template objects created with createTemplate(). These objects can bechained. A template sees all the variables of its own object and all variables assigned to the objects in itschain of parent objects.

By default templates which are rendered by $smarty->display(...) or $smarty->fetch(...) calls are automatically linked to the Smarty object variable scope.

By assigning variables to individual data or template objects you have full control which variables canbe seen by a template.

Variables

31

Example 4.6. Variable scope examples

// assign variable to Smarty object scope$smarty->assign('foo','smarty');

// assign variables to data object scope$data = $smarty->createData();$data->assign('foo','data');$data->assign('bar','bar-data');

// assign variables to other data object scope$data2 = $smarty->createData($data);$data2->assign('bar','bar-data2');

// assign variable to template object scope$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl');$tpl->assign('bar','bar-template');

// assign variable to template object scope with link to Smarty object$tpl2 = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl',$smarty);$tpl2->assign('bar','bar-template2');

// This display() does see $foo='smarty' from the $smarty object$smarty->display('index.tpl');

// This display() does see $foo='data' and $bar='bar-data' from the data object $data$smarty->display('index.tpl',$data);

// This display() does see $foo='data' from the data object $data // and $bar='bar-data2' from the data object $data2$smarty->display('index.tpl',$data2);

// This display() does see $bar='bar-template' from the template object $tpl$tpl->display(); // or $smarty->display($tpl);

// This display() does see $bar='bar-template2' from the template object $tpl2// and $foo='smarty' form the Smarty object $foo$tpl2->display(); // or $smarty->display($tpl2);

See also assign(), createData() and createTemplate().

Variables loaded from config filesVariables that are loaded from the config files are referenced by enclosing them within #hash_marks#,or with the smarty variable $smarty.config. The later syntax is useful for embedding into quotedattribute values, or accessing variable values such as $smarty.config.$foo.

Variables

32

Example 4.7. config variablesExample config file - foo.conf:

pageTitle = "This is mine"bodyBgColor = '#eeeeee'tableBorderSize = 3tableBgColor = "#bbbbbb"rowBgColor = "#cccccc"

A template demonstrating the #hash# method:

{config_load file='foo.conf'}<html><title>{#pageTitle#}</title><body bgcolor="{#bodyBgColor#}"><table border="{#tableBorderSize#}" bgcolor="{#tableBgColor#}"><tr bgcolor="{#rowBgColor#}"> <td>First</td> <td>Last</td> <td>Address</td></tr></table></body></html>

A template demonstrating the $smarty.config method:

{config_load file='foo.conf'}<html><title>{$smarty.config.pageTitle}</title><body bgcolor="{$smarty.config.bodyBgColor}"><table border="{$smarty.config.tableBorderSize}" bgcolor="{$smarty.config.tableBgColor}"><tr bgcolor="{$smarty.config.rowBgColor}"> <td>First</td> <td>Last</td> <td>Address</td></tr></table></body></html>

Both examples would output:

<html><title>This is mine</title><body bgcolor="#eeeeee"><table border="3" bgcolor="#bbbbbb"><tr bgcolor="#cccccc"> <td>First</td> <td>Last</td> <td>Address</td></tr></table></body></html>

Variables

33

Config file variables cannot be used until after they are loaded in from a config file. This procedure isexplained later in this document under {config_load}.

See also variables and $smarty reserved variables

{$smarty} reserved variableThe PHP reserved {$smarty} variable can be used to access several environment and request variables.The full list of them follows.

Request variablesThe request variables [http://php.net/reserved.variables] such as $_GET, $_POST,$_COOKIE, $_SERVER, $_ENV and $_SESSION (see $request_vars_order and$request_use_auto_globals) can be accessed as demonstrated in the examples below:

Example 4.8. Displaying request variables

{* display value of page from URL ($_GET) http://www.example.com/index.php?page=foo *}{$smarty.get.page}

{* display the variable "page" from a form ($_POST['page']) *}{$smarty.post.page}

{* display the value of the cookie "username" ($_COOKIE['username']) *}{$smarty.cookies.username}

{* display the server variable "SERVER_NAME" ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'])*}{$smarty.server.SERVER_NAME}

{* display the system environment variable "PATH" *}{$smarty.env.PATH}

{* display the php session variable "id" ($_SESSION['id']) *}{$smarty.session.id}

{* display the variable "username" from merged get/post/cookies/server/env *}{$smarty.request.username}

Note

For historical reasons {$SCRIPT_NAME} is short-hand for{$smarty.server.SCRIPT_NAME}.

<a href="{$SCRIPT_NAME}?page=smarty">click me</a><a href="{$smarty.server.SCRIPT_NAME}?page=smarty">click me</a>

Variables

34

Note

Although Smarty provides direct access to PHP super globals for convenience, it should be usedwith caution. Specifically, GET and POST and REQUEST are commonly used for presentationpurposes, but directly accessing SERVER, ENV, COOKIE and SESSION vars is typicallyavoided, as this is mixing underlying application code structure into the templates. A goodpractice is to assign specific needed values to template vars.

{$smarty.now}The current timestamp [http://php.net/function.time] can be accessed with {$smarty.now}. The valuereflects the number of seconds passed since the so-called Epoch on January 1, 1970, and can be passeddirectly to the date_format modifier for display. Note that time() [http://php.net/function.time] iscalled on each invocation; eg a script that takes three seconds to execute with a call to $smarty.now atstart and end will show the three second difference.

{* use the date_format modifier to show current date and time *}{$smarty.now|date_format:'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'}

{$smarty.const}You can access PHP constant values directly. See also smarty constants.

<?php// the constant defined in phpdefine('MY_CONST_VAL','CHERRIES');?>

Output the constant in a template with

{$smarty.const.MY_CONST_VAL}

Note

Although Smarty provides direct access to PHP constants for convenience, it is typically avoidedas this is mixing underlying application code structure into the templates. A good practice is toassign specific needed values to template vars.

{$smarty.capture}Template output captured via the built-in {capture}..{/capture} function can be accessed usingthe {$smarty.capture} variable. See the {capture} page for more information.

Variables

35

{$smarty.config}{$smarty.config} variable can be used to refer to loaded config variables.{$smarty.config.foo} is a synonym for {#foo#}. See the {config_load} page for more info.

{$smarty.section}The {$smarty.section} variables can be used to refer to {section} loop properties. These havesome very useful values such as .first, .index, etc.

Note

The {$smarty.foreach} variable is no longer used with the new {foreach} syntax, butis still supported with Smarty 2.x style foreach syntax.

{$smarty.template}Returns the name of the current template being processed (without the directory.)

{$smarty.current_dir}Returns the name of the directory for the current template being processed.

{$smarty.version}Returns the version of Smarty the template was compiled with.

<div id="footer">Powered by Smarty {$smarty.version}</div>

{$smarty.block.child}Returns block text from child template. See Template interitance.

{$smarty.block.parent}Returns block text from parent template. See Template interitance

{$smarty.ldelim}, {$smarty.rdelim}These variables are used for printing the left-delimiter and right-delimiter value literally, the same as{ldelim},{rdelim}.

See also assigned variables and config variables

36

Chapter 5. Variable ModifiersVariable modifiers can be applied to variables, custom functions or strings. To apply a modifier, specifythe value followed by a | (pipe) and the modifier name. A modifier may accept additional parameters thataffect its behavior. These parameters follow the modifer name and are separated by a : (colon). Also, allphp-functions can be used as modifiers implicitly (more below) and modifiers can be combined.

Example 5.1. Modifier examples

{* apply modifier to a variable *}{$title|upper}

{* modifier with parameters *}{$title|truncate:40:"..."}

{* apply modifier to a function parameter *}{html_table loop=$myvar|upper}

{* with parameters *}{html_table loop=$myvar|truncate:40:"..."}

{* apply modifier to literal string *}{"foobar"|upper}

{* using date_format to format the current date *}{$smarty.now|date_format:"%Y/%m/%d"}

{* apply modifier to a custom function *}{mailto|upper address="smarty@example.com"}

{* using php's str_repeat *}{"="|str_repeat:80}

{* php's count *}{$myArray|@count}

{* this will uppercase and truncate the whole array *}<select name="name_id">{html_options output=$my_array|upper|truncate:20}</select>

• Modifiers can be applied to any type of variables, including arrays and objects.

Note

The default behavior was changed with Smarty 3. In Smarty 2.x, you had to use an "@" symbolto apply a modifier to an array, such as {$articleTitle|@count}. With Smarty 3, the"@" is no longer necessary, and is ignored.

Variable Modifiers

37

If you want a modifier to apply to each individual item of an array, you will either need to loopthe array in the template, or provide for this functionality inside your modifier function.

• Modifiers are autoloaded from the $plugins_dir or can be registered explicitly with theregisterPlugin() function. The later is useful for sharing a function between php scripts andsmarty templates.

• All php-functions can be used as modifiers implicitly, as demonstrated in the example above. However,using php-functions as modifiers has two little pitfalls:

• First - sometimes the order of the function-parameters is not the desirable one. Formatting $foowith {"%2.f"|sprintf:$foo} actually works, but asks for the more intuitive, like {$foo|string_format:"%2.f"} that is provided by the Smarty distribution.

• Secondly - if security is enabled, all php-functions that are to be used as modifiers have to be declaredtrusted in the $modifiers property of the securty policy. See the Security section for details.

See also registerPlugin(), combining modifiers. and extending smarty with plugins

capitalizeThis is used to capitalize the first letter of all words in a variable. This is similar to the PHP ucwords()[http://php.net/ucwords] function.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 boolean No FALSE This determineswhether or notwords with digitswill be uppercased

Variable Modifiers

38

Example 5.2. capitalize

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'next x-men film, x3, delayed.');

?>

Where the template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|capitalize}{$articleTitle|capitalize:true}

Will output:

next x-men film, x3, delayed.Next X-Men Film, x3, Delayed.Next X-Men Film, X3, Delayed.

See also lower and upper

catThis value is concatenated to the given variable.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string No empty This value tocatenate to thegiven variable.

Variable Modifiers

39

Example 5.3. cat

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Psychics predict world didn't end");

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle|cat:' yesterday.'}

Will output:

Psychics predict world didn't end yesterday.

count_charactersThis is used to count the number of characters in a variable.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 boolean No FALSE This determineswhether or not toinclude whitespacecharacters in thecount.

Variable Modifiers

40

Example 5.4. count_characters

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures.');

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|count_characters}{$articleTitle|count_characters:true}

Will output:

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures.2933

See also count_words, count_sentences and count_paragraphs.

count_paragraphsThis is used to count the number of paragraphs in a variable.

Variable Modifiers

41

Example 5.5. count_paragraphs

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "War Dims Hope for Peace. Child's Death Ruins Couple's Holiday.\n\n Man is Fatally Slain. Death Causes Loneliness, Feeling of Isolation." );

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|count_paragraphs}

Will output:

War Dims Hope for Peace. Child's Death Ruins Couple's Holiday.

Man is Fatally Slain. Death Causes Loneliness, Feeling of Isolation.2

See also count_characters, count_sentences and count_words.

count_sentencesThis is used to count the number of sentences in a variable.

Variable Modifiers

42

Example 5.6. count_sentences

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Two Soviet Ships Collide - One Dies. Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Axe.' );

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|count_sentences}

Will output:

Two Soviet Ships Collide - One Dies. Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Axe.2

See also count_characters, count_paragraphs and count_words.

count_wordsThis is used to count the number of words in a variable.

Variable Modifiers

43

Example 5.7. count_words

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Dealers Will Hear Car Talk at Noon.');

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|count_words}

This will output:

Dealers Will Hear Car Talk at Noon.7

See also count_characters, count_paragraphs and count_sentences.

date_formatThis formats a date and time into the given strftime() [http://php.net/strftime] format. Dates canbe passed to Smarty as unix timestamps [http://php.net/function.time], mysql timestamps or any stringmade up of month day year, parsable by php's strtotime() [http://php.net/strtotime]. Designers canthen use date_format to have complete control of the formatting of the date. If the date passed todate_format is empty and a second parameter is passed, that will be used as the date to format.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string No %b %e, %Y This is the formatfor the outputteddate.

2 string No n/a This is the defaultdate if the input isempty.

Note

Since Smarty-2.6.10 numeric values passed to date_format are always (except for mysqltimestamps, see below) interpreted as a unix timestamp.

Variable Modifiers

44

Before Smarty-2.6.10 numeric strings that where also parsable by strtotime() inphp (like YYYYMMDD) where sometimes (depending on the underlying implementation ofstrtotime()) interpreted as date strings and NOT as timestamps.

The only exception are mysql timestamps: They are also numeric only and 14 characters long(YYYYMMDDHHMMSS), mysql timestamps have precedence over unix timestamps.

Programmers note

date_format is essentially a wrapper to PHP's strftime() [http://php.net/strftime]function. You may have more or less conversion specifiers available depending on your system'sstrftime() [http://php.net/strftime] function where PHP was compiled. Check your system'smanpage for a full list of valid specifiers. However, a few of the specifiers are emulated onWindows. These are: %D, %e, %h, %l, %n, %r, %R, %t, %T.

Example 5.8. date_format

<?php

$config['date'] = '%I:%M %p';$config['time'] = '%H:%M:%S';$smarty->assign('config', $config);$smarty->assign('yesterday', strtotime('-1 day'));

?>

This template uses $smarty.now to get the current time:

{$smarty.now|date_format}{$smarty.now|date_format:"%D"}{$smarty.now|date_format:$config.date}{$yesterday|date_format}{$yesterday|date_format:"%A, %B %e, %Y"}{$yesterday|date_format:$config.time}

This above will output:

Jan 1, 202201/01/2202:33 pmDec 31, 2021Monday, December 1, 202114:33:00

Variable Modifiers

45

date_format conversion specifiers:

• %a - abbreviated weekday name according to the current locale

• %A - full weekday name according to the current locale

• %b - abbreviated month name according to the current locale

• %B - full month name according to the current locale

• %c - preferred date and time representation for the current locale

• %C - century number (the year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer, range 00 to 99)

• %d - day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31)

• %D - same as %m/%d/%y

• %e - day of the month as a decimal number, a single digit is preceded by a space (range 1 to 31)

• %g - Week-based year within century [00,99]

• %G - Week-based year, including the century [0000,9999]

• %h - same as %b

• %H - hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23)

• %I - hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12)

• %j - day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366)

• %k - Hour (24-hour clock) single digits are preceded by a blank. (range 0 to 23)

• %l - hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock, single digits preceeded by a space (range 1 to 12)

• %m - month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12)

• %M - minute as a decimal number

• %n - newline character

• %p - either `am' or `pm' according to the given time value, or the corresponding strings for the currentlocale

• %r - time in a.m. and p.m. notation

• %R - time in 24 hour notation

• %S - second as a decimal number

• %t - tab character

• %T - current time, equal to %H:%M:%S

Variable Modifiers

46

• %u - weekday as a decimal number [1,7], with 1 representing Monday

• %U - week number of the current year as a decimal number, starting with the first Sunday as the firstday of the first week

• %V - The ISO 8601:1988 week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 01 to 53, whereweek 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first dayof the week.

• %w - day of the week as a decimal, Sunday being 0

• %W - week number of the current year as a decimal number, starting with the first Monday as the firstday of the first week

• %x - preferred date representation for the current locale without the time

• %X - preferred time representation for the current locale without the date

• %y - year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99)

• %Y - year as a decimal number including the century

• %Z - time zone or name or abbreviation

• %% - a literal `%' character

See also $smarty.now, strftime() [http://php.net/strftime], {html_select_date} and thedate tips page.

defaultThis is used to set a default value for a variable. If the variable is unset or an empty string, the given defaultvalue is printed instead. Default takes the one argument.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string No empty This is the defaultvalue to outputif the variable isempty.

Variable Modifiers

47

Example 5.9. default

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Dealers Will Hear Car Talk at Noon.');$smarty->assign('email', '');

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle|default:'no title'}{$myTitle|default:'no title'}{$email|default:'No email address available'}

Will output:

Dealers Will Hear Car Talk at Noon.no titleNo email address available

See also the default variable handling and the blank variable handling pages.

escapeescape is used to encode or escape a variable to html, url, single quotes, hex, hexentity,javascript and mail. By default its html.

ParameterPosition

Type Required PossibleValues

Default Description

1 string No html,htmlall,url,

urlpathinfo,quotes, hex,hexentity,javascript,

mail

html This is theescape format touse.

2 string No ISO-8859-1,UTF-8,and any

character set

UTF-8 The characterset encodingpassed to

Variable Modifiers

48

ParameterPosition

Type Required PossibleValues

Default Description

supported by htmlentities()

[http://php.net/htmlentities]

htmlentities() et.al.

Example 5.10. escape

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan'" );$smarty->assign('EmailAddress','smarty@example.com');

?>

These are example escape template lines followed by the output

{$articleTitle}'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan'

{$articleTitle|escape}&#039;Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan&#039;

{$articleTitle|escape:'html'} {* escapes & " ' < > *}&#039;Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan&#039;

{$articleTitle|escape:'htmlall'} {* escapes ALL html entities *}&#039;Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan&#039;

<a href="?title={$articleTitle|escape:'url'}">click here</a><ahref="?title=%27Stiff%20Opposition%20Expected%20to%20Casketless%20Funeral%20Plan%27">click here</a>

{$articleTitle|escape:'quotes'}\'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan\'

<a href="mailto:{$EmailAddress|escape:"hex"}">{$EmailAddress|escape:"hexentity"}</a>{$EmailAddress|escape:'mail'} {* this converts to email to text *}<a href="mailto:%62%6f%..snip..%65%74">&#x62;&#x6f;&#x62..snip..&#x65;&#x74;</a>

{'mail@example.com'|escape:'mail'}smarty [AT] example [DOT] com

Variable Modifiers

49

Example 5.11. Other examples

{* the "rewind" paramater registers the current location *}<a href="$my_path?page=foo&rewind=$my_uri|urlencode}">click here</a>

This snippet is useful for emails, but see also {mailto}

{* email address mangled *}<a href="mailto:{$EmailAddress|escape:'hex'}">{$EmailAddress|escape:'mail'}</a>

See also escaping smarty parsing, {mailto} and the obfuscating email addresses page.

indentThis indents a string on each line, default is 4. As an optional parameter, you can specify the number ofcharacters to indent. As an optional second parameter, you can specify the character to use to indent witheg use "\t" for a tab.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 integer No 4 This determineshow manycharacters to indentto.

2 string No (one space) This is the characterused to indent with.

Variable Modifiers

50

Example 5.12. indent

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'NJ judge to rule on nude beach.Sun or rain expected today, dark tonight.Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after 25.' );?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}

{$articleTitle|indent}

{$articleTitle|indent:10}

{$articleTitle|indent:1:"\t"}

Will output:

NJ judge to rule on nude beach.Sun or rain expected today, dark tonight.Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after 25.

NJ judge to rule on nude beach. Sun or rain expected today, dark tonight. Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after 25.

NJ judge to rule on nude beach. Sun or rain expected today, dark tonight. Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after 25.

NJ judge to rule on nude beach. Sun or rain expected today, dark tonight. Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after 25.

See also strip, wordwrap and spacify.

Variable Modifiers

51

lowerThis is used to lowercase a variable. This is equivalent to the PHP strtolower() [http://php.net/strtolower] function.

Example 5.13. lower

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung.');

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|lower}

This will output:

Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung.two convicts evade noose, jury hung.

See also upper and capitalize.

nl2brAll "\n" line breaks will be converted to html <br /> tags in the given variable. This is equivalent tothe PHP's nl2br() [http://php.net/nl2br] function.

Variable Modifiers

52

Example 5.14. nl2br

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Sun or rain expected\ntoday, dark tonight" );

?>

Where the template is:

{$articleTitle|nl2br}

Will output:

Sun or rain expected<br />today, dark tonight

See also word_wrap, count_paragraphs and count_sentences.

regex_replaceA regular expression search and replace on a variable. Use the preg_replace() [http://php.net/preg_replace] syntax from the PHP manual.

Note

Although Smarty supplies this regex convenience modifier, it is usually better to apply regularexpressions in PHP, either via custom functions or modifiers. Regular expressions are consideredapplication code and are not part of presentation logic.

Parameters

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string Yes n/a This is the regularexpression to bereplaced.

2 string Yes n/a This is the string oftext to replace with.

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53

Example 5.15. regex_replace

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Infertility unlikely to\nbe passed on, experts say.");

?>

Where template is:

{* replace each carriage return, tab and new line with a space *}

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|regex_replace:"/[\r\t\n]/":" "}

Will output:

Infertility unlikely tobe passed on, experts say.Infertility unlikely to be passed on, experts say.

See also replace and escape.

replaceA simple search and replace on a variable. This is equivalent to the PHP's str_replace() [http://php.net/str_replace] function.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string Yes n/a This is the string oftext to be replaced.

2 string Yes n/a This is the string oftext to replace with.

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54

Example 5.16. replace

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Child's Stool Great for Use in Garden.");

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|replace:'Garden':'Vineyard'}{$articleTitle|replace:' ':' '}

Will output:

Child's Stool Great for Use in Garden.Child's Stool Great for Use in Vineyard.Child's Stool Great for Use in Garden.

See also regex_replace and escape.

spacifyspacify is a way to insert a space between every character of a variable. You can optionally pass adifferent character or string to insert.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string No one space This what getsinserted betweeneach character ofthe variable.

Variable Modifiers

55

Example 5.17. spacify

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say.');

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|spacify}{$articleTitle|spacify:"^^"}

Will output:

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say.S o m e t h i n g W .... snip .... s h , E x p e r t s S a y .S^^o^^m^^e^^t^^h^^i^^n^^g^^ .... snip .... ^^e^^r^^t^^s^^ ^^S^^a^^y^^.

See also wordwrap and nl2br.

string_formatThis is a way to format strings, such as decimal numbers and such. Use the syntax for sprintf() [http://php.net/sprintf] for the formatting.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 string Yes n/a This is what formatto use. (sprintf)

Variable Modifiers

56

Example 5.18. string_format

<?php

$smarty->assign('number', 23.5787446);

?>

Where template is:

{$number}{$number|string_format:"%.2f"}{$number|string_format:"%d"}

Will output:

23.578744623.5824

See also date_format.

stripThis replaces all repeated spaces, newlines and tabs with a single space, or with the supplied string.

Note

If you want to strip blocks of template text, use the built-in {strip} function.

Variable Modifiers

57

Example 5.19. strip

<?php$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Grandmother of\neight makes\t hole in one.");$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|strip}{$articleTitle|strip:'&nbsp;'}

Will output:

Grandmother ofeight makes hole in one.Grandmother of eight makes hole in one.Grandmother&nbsp;of&nbsp;eight&nbsp;makes&nbsp;hole&nbsp;in&nbsp;one.

See also {strip} and truncate.

strip_tagsThis strips out markup tags, basically anything between < and >.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 bool No TRUE This determineswhether the tags arereplaced by ' ' or ''

Variable Modifiers

58

Example 5.20. strip_tags

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Blind Woman Gets <font face=\"helvetica\">NewKidney</font> from Dad she Hasn't Seen in <b>years</b>." );

?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|strip_tags} {* same as {$articleTitle|strip_tags:true} *}{$articleTitle|strip_tags:false}

Will output:

Blind Woman Gets <font face="helvetica">New Kidney</font> from Dad she Hasn't Seen in <b>years</b>.Blind Woman Gets New Kidney from Dad she Hasn't Seen in years .Blind Woman Gets New Kidney from Dad she Hasn't Seen in years.

See also replace and regex_replace.

truncateThis truncates a variable to a character length, the default is 80. As an optional second parameter, youcan specify a string of text to display at the end if the variable was truncated. The characters in the stringare included with the original truncation length. By default, truncate will attempt to cut off at a wordboundary. If you want to cut off at the exact character length, pass the optional third parameter of TRUE.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 integer No 80 This determineshow manycharacters totruncate to.

2 string No ... This is a text stringthat replaces thetruncated text. Itslength is included

Variable Modifiers

59

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

in the truncationlength setting.

3 boolean No FALSE This determineswhether or notto truncate at aword boundary withFALSE, or at theexact character withTRUE.

4 boolean No FALSE This determineswhether thetruncation happensat the end ofthe string withFALSE, or in themiddle of the stringwith TRUE. Notethat if this settingis TRUE, thenword boundariesare ignored.

Variable Modifiers

60

Example 5.21. truncate

<?php$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter.');?>

where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|truncate}{$articleTitle|truncate:30}{$articleTitle|truncate:30:""}{$articleTitle|truncate:30:"---"}{$articleTitle|truncate:30:"":true}{$articleTitle|truncate:30:"...":true}{$articleTitle|truncate:30:'..':true:true}

This will output:

Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter.Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter.Two Sisters Reunite after...Two Sisters Reunite afterTwo Sisters Reunite after---Two Sisters Reunite after EighTwo Sisters Reunite after E...Two Sisters Re..ckout Counter.

upperThis is used to uppercase a variable. This is equivalent to the PHP strtoupper() [http://php.net/strtoupper] function.

Variable Modifiers

61

Example 5.22. upper

<?php$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "If Strike isn't Settled Quickly it may Last a While.");?>

Where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|upper}

Will output:

If Strike isn't Settled Quickly it may Last a While.IF STRIKE ISN'T SETTLED QUICKLY IT MAY LAST A WHILE.

See also lower and capitalize.

wordwrapWraps a string to a column width, the default is 80. As an optional second parameter, you can specify astring of text to wrap the text to the next line, the default is a carriage return "\n". By default, wordwrapwill attempt to wrap at a word boundary. If you want to cut off at the exact character length, pass theoptional third parameter as TRUE. This is equivalent to the PHP wordwrap() [http://php.net/wordwrap]function.

ParameterPosition

Type Required Default Description

1 integer No 80 This determineshow many columnsto wrap to.

2 string No \n This is the stringused to wrap wordswith.

3 boolean No FALSE This determineswhether or not towrap at a wordboundary (FALSE),or at the exactcharacter (TRUE).

Variable Modifiers

62

Example 5.23. wordwrap

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', "Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years." );

?>

Where template is

{$articleTitle}

{$articleTitle|wordwrap:30}

{$articleTitle|wordwrap:20}

{$articleTitle|wordwrap:30:"<br />\n"}

{$articleTitle|wordwrap:26:"\n":true}

Will output:

Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years.

Blind woman gets new kidneyfrom dad she hasn't seen inyears.

Blind woman gets newkidney from dad shehasn't seen inyears.

Blind woman gets new kidney<br />from dad she hasn't seen in<br />years.

Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years.

Variable Modifiers

63

See also nl2br and {textformat}.

64

Chapter 6. Combining ModifiersYou can apply any number of modifiers to a variable. They will be applied in the order they are combined,from left to right. They must be separated with a | (pipe) character.

Example 6.1. combining modifiers

<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle', 'Smokers are Productive, but Death Cuts Efficiency.');

?>

where template is:

{$articleTitle}{$articleTitle|upper|spacify}{$articleTitle|lower|spacify|truncate}{$articleTitle|lower|truncate:30|spacify}{$articleTitle|lower|spacify|truncate:30:". . ."}

The above example will output:

Smokers are Productive, but Death Cuts Efficiency.S M O K E R S A R ....snip.... H C U T S E F F I C I E N C Y .s m o k e r s a r ....snip.... b u t d e a t h c u t s...s m o k e r s a r e p r o d u c t i v e , b u t . . .s m o k e r s a r e p. . .

65

Chapter 7. Built-in FunctionsSmarty comes with several built-in functions. These built-in functions are the integral part of the smartytemplate engine. They are compiled into corresponding inline PHP code for maximum performance.

You cannot create your own custom functions with the same name; and you should not need to modifythe built-in functions.

A few of these functions have an assign attribute which collects the result the function to a namedtemplate variable instead of being output; much like the {assign} function.

{$var=...}This is a short-hand version of the {assign} function. You can assign values directly to the template, orassign values to array elements too.

Note

Assignment of variables in-template is essentially placing application logic into the presentationthat may be better handled in PHP. Use at your own discretion.

The following attributes can be added to the tag:

Attributes:

AttributeName

Shorthand Type Required Default Description

scope n/a string No n/a The scope ofthe assignedvariable:'parent','root' or'global'

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Assingns the variable with the 'nocache' attribute

Example 7.1. Simple assignment

{$name='Bob'}

The value of $name is {$name}.

The above example will output:

The value of $name is Bob.

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66

Example 7.2. Assignment with math

{$running_total=$running_total+$some_array[row].some_value}

Example 7.3. Assignment of an array element

{$user.name="Bob"}

Example 7.4. Assignment of an multidimensional array element

{$user.name.first="Bob"}

Example 7.5. Appending an array

{$users[]="Bob"}

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67

Example 7.6. Assigment in the scope of calling template

Variables assigned in the included template will be seen in the including template.

{include file="sub_template.tpl"}...{* display variable assigned in sub_template *}{$foo}<br>...

The template above includes the example sub_template.tpl below

...{* foo will be known also in the including template *}{$foo="something" scope=parent}{* bar is assigned only local in the including template *}{$bar="value"}...

See also {assign} and {append}

{append}{append} is used for creating or appending template variable arrays during the execution of a template.

Note

Assignment of variables in-template is essentially placing application logic into the presentationthat may be better handled in PHP. Use at your own discretion.

Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

var string Yes n/a The name ofthe variable beingassigned

value string Yes n/a The value beingassigned

index string No n/a The index for thenew array element.If not specified thevalue is append tothe end of the array.

scope string No n/a The scope of theassigned variable:'parent','root' or'global'

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68

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Assingns the variable with the 'nocache' attribute

Example 7.7. {append}

{append var='name' value='Bob' index='first'}{append var='name' value='Meyer' index='last'}// or {append 'name' 'Bob' index='first'} {* short-hand *}{append 'name' 'Meyer' index='last'} {* short-hand *}

The first name is {$name.first}.<br>The last name is {$name.last}.

The above example will output:

The first name is Bob.The last name is Meyer.

See also append() and getTemplateVars().

{assign}{assign} is used for assigning template variables during the execution of a template.

Note

Assignment of variables in-template is essentially placing application logic into the presentationthat may be better handled in PHP. Use at your own discretion.

Note

See also the short-form method of assigning template vars.

Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

var string Yes n/a The name ofthe variable beingassigned

value string Yes n/a The value beingassigned

scope string No n/a The scope of theassigned variable:

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69

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

'parent','root' or'global'

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Assingns the variable with the 'nocache' attribute

Example 7.8. {assign}

{assign var="name" value="Bob"}{assign "name" "Bob"} {* short-hand *}

The value of $name is {$name}.

The above example will output:

The value of $name is Bob.

Example 7.9. {assign} as a nocache variable

{assign var="name" value="Bob" nocache}{assign "name" "Bob" nocache} {* short-hand *}

The value of $name is {$name}.

The above example will output:

The value of $name is Bob.

Example 7.10. {assign} with some maths

{assign var=running_total value=$running_total+$some_array[$row].some_value}

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70

Example 7.11. {assign} in the scope of calling template

Variables assigned in the included template will be seen in the including template.

{include file="sub_template.tpl"}...{* display variable assigned in sub_template *}{$foo}<br>...

The template above includes the example sub_template.tpl below

...{* foo will be known also in the including template *}{assign var="foo" value="something" scope=parent}{* bar is assigned only local in the including template *}{assign var="bar" value="value"}...

Example 7.12. {assign} a variable to current scope tree

You can assign a variable to root of the current root tree. The variable is seen by all templates using thesame root tree.

{assign var=foo value="bar" scope="root"}

Example 7.13. {assign} a global variable

A glkobal variable is seen by all templates.

{assign var=foo value="bar" scope="global"}{assign "foo" "bar" scope="global"} {* short-hand *}

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71

Example 7.14. Accessing {assign} variables from a PHP script

To access {assign} variables from a php script use getTemplateVars(). Here's the template thatcreates the variable $foo.

{assign var="foo" value="Smarty"}

The template variables are only available after/during template execution as in the following script.

<?php

// this will output nothing as the template has not been executedecho $smarty->getTemplateVars('foo');

// fetch the template to a variable$whole_page = $smarty->fetch('index.tpl');

// this will output 'smarty' as the template has been executedecho $smarty->getTemplateVars('foo');

$smarty->assign('foo','Even smarter');

// this will output 'Even smarter'echo $smarty->getTemplateVars('foo');

?>

The following functions can also optionally assign template variables.

{capture}, {include}, {include_php}, {insert}, {counter}, {cycle}, {eval},{fetch}, {math}, {textformat}

See also {$var=...}, assign() and getTemplateVars().

{block}{block} is used to define a named area of template source for template inheritance. For details seesection of Template Interitance.

The {block} template source area of a child template will replace the correponding areas in the parenttemplate(s).

Optionally {block} areas of child and parent templates can be merged into each other. You can appendor prepend the parent {block} content by using the append or prepend option flag with the childs{block} definition. With the {$smarty.block.parent} the {block} content of the parent template canbe inserted at any location of the child {block} content. {$smarty.block.child} inserts the {block}content of the child template at any location of the parent {block}.

{blocks}'s can be nested.

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72

Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string Yes n/a The name ofthe template sourceblock

Option Flags (in child templates only):

Name Description

append The {block} content will be be appended to thecontent of the parent template {block}

prepend The {block} content will be prepended to thecontent of the parent template {block}

nocache Disables caching of the {block} content

Example 7.15. Simple {block} example

parent.tpl

<html> <head> <title>{block name="title"}Default Title{/block}</title> <title>{block "title"}Default Title{/block}</title> {* short-hand *} </head></html>

child.tpl

{extends file="parent.tpl"} {block name="title"}Page Title{/block}

The result would look like

<html> <head> <title>Page Title</title> </head></html>

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73

Example 7.16. Prepend {block} example

parent.tpl

<html> <head> <title>{block name="title"}Title - {/block}</title> </head></html>

child.tpl

{extends file="parent.tpl"} {block name="title" prepend}Page Title{/block}

The result would look like

<html> <head> <title>Title - Page Title</title> </head></html>

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74

Example 7.17. Append {block} example

parent.tpl

<html> <head> <title>{block name="title"} is my titel{/block}</title> </head></html>

child.tpl

{extends file="parent.tpl"} {block name="title" append}Page Title{/block}

The result would look like

<html> <head> <title>Page title is my titel</title> </head></html>

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75

Example 7.18. {$smarty.block.child} example

parent.tpl

<html> <head> <title>{block name="title"}The {$smarty.block.child} was inserted here{/block}</title> </head></html>

child.tpl

{extends file="parent.tpl"} {block name="title" append}Child Title{/block}

The result would look like

<html> <head> <title>The - Child Title - was inserted here</title> </head></html>

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76

Example 7.19. {$smarty.block.parent} example

parent.tpl

<html> <head> <title>{block name="title"}Parent Title{/block}</title> </head></html>

child.tpl

{extends file="parent.tpl"} {block name="title" append}You will see now - {$smarty.block.parent} - here{/block}

The result would look like

<html> <head> <title>You will see now - Parent Title - here</title> </head></html>

See also Template interitance, $smarty.block.parent, $smarty.block.child, and{extends}

{call}{call} is used to call a template function defined by the {function} tag just like a plugin function.

Note

Template functions are defined global. Since the Smarty compiler is a single-pass compiler, The{call} tag must be used to call a template function defined externally from the given template.Otherwise you can directly use the function as {funcname ...} in the template.

• The {call} tag must have the name attribute which contains the the name of the template function.

• Values for variables can be passed to the template function as attributes.

Attributes:

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77

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string Yes n/a The name of thetemplate function

assign string No n/a The name of thevariable that theoutput of calledtemplate functionwill be assigned to

[var ...] [var type] No n/a variable to passlocal to templatefunction

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Cakk the template function in nocache mode

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78

Example 7.20. Calling a recursive menu example

{* define the function *}{function name=menu level=0} <ul class="level{$level}"> {foreach $data as $entry} {if is_array($entry)} <li>{$entry@key}</li> {call name=menu data=$entry level=$level+1} {else} <li>{$entry}</li> {/if} {/foreach} </ul>{/function}

{* create an array to demonstrate *}{$menu = ['item1','item2','item3' => ['item3-1','item3-2','item3-3' =>['item3-3-1','item3-3-2']],'item4']}

{* run the array through the function *}{call name=menu data=$menu}{call menu data=$menu} {* short-hand *}

Will generate the following output

* item1* item2* item3 o item3-1 o item3-2 o item3-3 + item3-3-1 + item3-3-2* item4

See also {function}

{capture}{capture} is used to collect the output of the template between the tags into a variable instead ofdisplaying it. Any content between {capture name='foo'} and {/capture} is collected into thevariable specified in the name attribute.

The captured content can be used in the template from the variable $smarty.capture.foo where“foo” is the value passed in the name attribute. If you do not supply the name attribute, then “default”will be used as the name ie $smarty.capture.default.

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79

{capture}'s can be nested.

Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string Yes n/a The name of thecaptured block

assign string No n/a The variable namewhere to assign thecaptured output to

append string No n/a The name ofan array variablewhere to append thecaptured output to

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Disables caching of this captured block

Caution

Be careful when capturing {insert} output. If you have $caching enabled and you have{insert} commands that you expect to run within cached content, do not capture this content.

Example 7.21. {capture} with the name attribute

{* we don't want to print a div tag unless content is displayed *}{capture name="banner"}{capture "banner"} {* short-hand *} {include file="get_banner.tpl"}{/capture}

{if $smarty.capture.banner ne ""}<div id="banner">{$smarty.capture.banner}</div>{/if}

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Example 7.22. {capture} into a template variable

This example demonstrates the capture function.

{capture name=some_content assign=popText}{capture some_content assign=popText} {* short-hand *}The server is {$my_server_name|upper} at {$my_server_addr}<br>Your ip is {$my_ip}.{/capture}<a href="#">{$popText}</a>

Example 7.23. {capture} into a template array variable

This example also demonstrates how multiple calls of capture can be used to create an array with capturedcontent.

{capture append="foo"}hello{/capture}I say just {capture append="foo"}world{/capture}{foreach $foo as $text}{$text} {/foreach}

The above example will output:

I say just hello world

See also $smarty.capture, {eval}, {fetch}, fetch() and {assign}.

{config_load}{config_load} is used for loading config #variables# from a configuration file into the template.

Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

file string Yes n/a The name of theconfig file toinclude

section string No n/a The name of thesection to load

scope string no local How the scope ofthe loaded variablesare treated, whichmust be oneof local, parentor global. local

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81

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

means variablesare loaded intothe local templatecontext. parentmeans variables areloaded into both thelocal context andthe parent templatethat called it. globalmeans variables areavailable to alltemplates.

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82

Example 7.24. {config_load}

The example.conf file.

#this is config file comment

# global variablespageTitle = "Main Menu"bodyBgColor = #000000tableBgColor = #000000rowBgColor = #00ff00

#customer variables section[Customer]pageTitle = "Customer Info"

and the template

{config_load file="example.conf"}{config_load "example.conf"} {* short-hand *}

<html><title>{#pageTitle#|default:"No title"}</title><body bgcolor="{#bodyBgColor#}"><table border="{#tableBorderSize#}" bgcolor="{#tableBgColor#}"> <tr bgcolor="{#rowBgColor#}"> <td>First</td> <td>Last</td> <td>Address</td> </tr></table></body></html>

Config Files may also contain sections. You can load variables from within a section with the addedattribute section. Note that global config variables are always loaded along with section variables, andsame-named section variables overwrite the globals.

Note

Config file sections and the built-in template function called {section} have nothing to dowith each other, they just happen to share a common naming convention.

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83

Example 7.25. function {config_load} with section

{config_load file='example.conf' section='Customer'}{config_load 'example.conf' 'Customer'} {* short-hand *}

<html><title>{#pageTitle#}</title><body bgcolor="{#bodyBgColor#}"><table border="{#tableBorderSize#}" bgcolor="{#tableBgColor#}"> <tr bgcolor="{#rowBgColor#}"> <td>First</td> <td>Last</td> <td>Address</td> </tr></table></body></html>

See $config_overwrite to create arrays of config file variables.

See also the config files page, config variables page, $config_dir, get_config_vars() andconfig_load().

{debug}{debug} dumps the debug console to the page. This works regardless of the debug settings in the phpscript. Since this gets executed at runtime, this is only able to show the assigned variables; not the templatesthat are in use. However, you can see all the currently available variables within the scope of a template.

If caching is enabled and a page is loaded from cache {debug} does show only the variables whichassigned for the cached page.

See also the debugging console page.

{extends}{extends} tags are used in child templates in template inheritance for extending parent templates. Fordetails see section of Template Interitance.

• The {extends} tag must be on the first line of the template.

• If a child template extends a parent template with the {extends} tag it may contain only {block}tags. Any other template content is ignored.

• Use the syntax for template resources to extend files outside of the $template_dir directory.

Attributes:

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84

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

file string Yes n/a The name of thetemplate file whichis extended

Example 7.26. Simple {extends} example

{extends file='parent.tpl'}{extends 'parent.tpl'} {* short-hand *}

See also Template Interitance and {block}.

{for}The {for}{forelse} tag is used to create simple loops. The following different formarts are supported:

• {for $var=$start to $end} simple loop with step size of 1.

• {for $var=$start to $end step $step} loop with individual step size.

{forelse} is executed when the loop is not iterated.

Attributes:

AttributeName

Shorthand Type Required Default Description

max n/a integer No n/a Limit thenumber ofiterations

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Disables caching of the {for} loop

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85

Example 7.27. A simple {for} loop

<ul>{for $foo=1 to 3} <li>{$foo}</li>{/for}</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul> <li>1</li> <li>2</li> <li>3</li></ul>

Example 7.28. Using the max attribute

$smarty->assign('to',10);

<ul>{for $foo=3 to $to max=3} <li>{$foo}</li>{/for}</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul> <li>3</li> <li>4</li> <li>5</li></ul>

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Example 7.29. Excution of {forelse}

$smarty->assign('start',10);$smarty->assign('to',5);

<ul>{for $foo=$start to $to} <li>{$foo}</li>{forelse} no iteration{/for}</ul>

The above example will output:

no iteration

See also {foreach} and {section}

{foreach},{foreachelse}{foreach} is used for looping over arrays of data. {foreach} has a simpler and cleaner syntax thanthe {section} loop, and can also loop over associative arrays.

{foreach $arrayvar as $itemvar}

{foreach $arrayvar as $keyvar=>$itemvar}

Note

This foreach syntax does not accept any named attributes. This syntax is new to Smarty 3, howeverthe Smarty 2.x syntax {foreach from=$myarray key="mykey" item="myitem"}is still supported.

• {foreach} loops can be nested.

• The array variable, usually an array of values, determines the number of times {foreach} willloop. You can also pass an integer for arbitrary loops.

• {foreachelse} is executed when there are no values in the array variable.

• {foreach} properties are @index, @iteration, @first, @last, @show, @total.

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87

• Instead of specifying the key variable you can access the current key of the loop item by{$item@key} (see examples below).

Note

The $var@property syntax is new to Smarty 3, however when using the Smarty 2{foreach from=$myarray key="mykey" item="myitem"} style syntax, the$smarty.foreach.name.property syntax is still supported.

Note

Although you can retrieve the array key with the syntax {foreach $myArray as $myKey=> $myValue}, the key is always available as $myValue@key within the foreach loop.

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Disables caching of the {foreach} loop

Example 7.30. A simple {foreach} loop

<?php$arr = array('red', 'green', 'blue');$smarty->assign('myColors', $arr);?>

Template to output $myColors in an un-ordered list

<ul>{foreach $myColors as $color} <li>{$color}</li>{/foreach}</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul> <li>red</li> <li>green</li> <li>blue</li></ul>

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Example 7.31. Demonstrates the an additional key variable

<?php$people = array('fname' => 'John', 'lname' => 'Doe', 'email' => 'j.doe@example.com');$smarty->assign('myPeople', $people);?>

Template to output $myArray as key/value pairs.

<ul>{foreach $myPeople as $value} <li>{$value@key}: {$value}</li>{/foreach}</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul> <li>fname: John</li> <li>lname: Doe</li> <li>email: j.doe@example.com</li></ul>

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Example 7.32. {foreach} with nested item and key

Assign an array to Smarty, the key contains the key for each looped value.

<?php $smarty->assign('contacts', array( array('phone' => '555-555-1234', 'fax' => '555-555-5678', 'cell' => '555-555-0357'), array('phone' => '800-555-4444', 'fax' => '800-555-3333', 'cell' => '800-555-2222') ));?>

The template to output $contact.

{* key always available as a property *}{foreach $contacts as $contact} {foreach $contact as $value} {$value@key}: {$value} {/foreach}{/foreach}

{* accessing key the PHP syntax alternate *}{foreach $contacts as $contact} {foreach $contact as $key => $value} {$key}: {$value} {/foreach}{/foreach}

Either of the above examples will output:

phone: 555-555-1234 fax: 555-555-5678 cell: 555-555-0357 phone: 800-555-4444 fax: 800-555-3333 cell: 800-555-2222

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Example 7.33. Database example with {foreachelse}

A database (PDO) example of looping over search results. This example is looping over a PHP iteratorinstead of an array().

<?php include('Smarty.class.php');

$smarty = new Smarty;

$dsn = 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=test'; $login = 'test'; $passwd = 'test';

// setting PDO to use buffered queries in mysql is // important if you plan on using multiple result cursors // in the template.

$db = new PDO($dsn, $login, $passwd, array( PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_USE_BUFFERED_QUERY => true));

$res = $db->prepare("select * from users"); $res->execute(); $res->setFetchMode(PDO::FETCH_LAZY);

// assign to smarty $smarty->assign('res',$res);

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>?>

{foreach $res as $r} {$r.id} {$r.name}{foreachelse} .. no results .. {/foreach}

The above is assuming the results contain the columns named id and name.

What is the advantage of an iterator vs. looping over a plain old array? With an array, all the results areaccumulated into memory before being looped. With an iterator, each result is loaded/released within theloop. This saves processing time and memory, especially for very large result sets.

@indexindex contains the current array index, starting with zero.

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Example 7.34. index example

{* output empty row on the 4th iteration (when index is 3) *}<table>{foreach $items as $i} {if $i@index eq 3} {* put empty table row *} <tr><td>nbsp;</td></tr> {/if} <tr><td>{$i.label}</td></tr>{/foreach}</table>

@iteration

iteration contains the current loop iteration and always starts at one, unlike index. It is incrementedby one on each iteration.

Example 7.35. iteration example: is div by

The "is div by" operator can be used to detect a specific iteration. Here we bold-face the name every 4thiteration.

{foreach $myNames as $name} {if $name@iteration is div by 4} <b>{$name}</b> {/if} {$name}{/foreach}

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Example 7.36. iteration example: is even/odd by

The "is even by" and "is odd by" operators can be used to alternate something every so many iterations.Choosing between even or odd rotates which one starts. Here we switch the font color every 3rd iteration.

{foreach $myNames as $name} {if $name@iteration is even by 3} <span style="color: #000">{$name}</span> {else} <span style="color: #eee">{$name}</span> {/if} {/foreach}

This will output something similar to this:

<span style="color: #000">...</span> <span style="color: #000">...</span> <span style="color: #000">...</span> <span style="color: #eee">...</span> <span style="color: #eee">...</span> <span style="color: #eee">...</span> <span style="color: #000">...</span> <span style="color: #000">...</span> <span style="color: #000">...</span> <span style="color: #eee">...</span> <span style="color: #eee">...</span> <span style="color: #eee">...</span> ...

@first

first is TRUE if the current {foreach} iteration is the initial one. Here we display a table headerrow on the first iteration.

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Example 7.37. first property example

{* show table header at first iteration *}<table>{foreach $items as $i} {if $i@first} <tr> <th>key</td> <th>name</td> </tr> {/if} <tr> <td>{$i@key}</td> <td>{$i.name}</td> </tr>{/foreach}</table>

@last

last is set to TRUE if the current {foreach} iteration is the final one. Here we display a horizontalrule on the last iteration.

Example 7.38. last property example

{* Add horizontal rule at end of list *}{foreach $items as $item} <a href="#{$item.id}">{$item.name}</a>{if $prod@last}<hr>{else},{/if}{foreachelse} ... no items to loop ...{/foreach}

@show

The show show property can be used after the execution of a {foreach} loop to detect if data has beendisplayed or not. show is a boolean value.

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Example 7.39. show property example

<ul>{foreach $myArray as $name} <li>{$name}</li>{/foreach}</ul>{if $name@show} do something here if the array contained data {/if}

@totaltotal contains the number of iterations that this {foreach} will loop. This can be used inside or afterthe {foreach}.

Example 7.40. total property example

{* show number of rows at end *}{foreach $items as $item} {$item.name}<hr/> {if $prod@last} <div id="total">{$prod@total} items</div> {/if}{foreachelse} ... no items to loop ...{/foreach}

See also {section} and {for}.

{function}{function} is used to create functions within a template and call them just like a plugin function.Instead of writing a plugin that generates presentational content, keeping it in the template is often a moremanageable choice. It also simplifies data traversal, such as deeply nested menus.

Note

Template functions are defined global. Since the Smarty compiler is a single-pass compiler, The{call} tag must be used to call a template function defined externally from the given template.Otherwise you can directly use the function as {funcname ...} in the template.

• The {function} tag must have the name attribute which contains the the name of the templatefunction. A tag with this name can be used to call the template function.

• Default values for variables can be passed to the template function as attributes. The default values canbe overwritten when the template function is being called..

• You can use all variables from the calling template inside the template function. Changes to variables ornew created variables inside the template function have local scope and are not visible inside the callingtemplate after the template function is executed.

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Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string Yes n/a The name of thetemplate function

[var ...] [var type] No n/a default variablevalue to pass localto the templatefunction

Example 7.41. Recursive menu {function} example

{* define the function *}{function name=menu level=0}{function menu level=0} {* short-hand *} <ul class="level{$level}"> {foreach $data as $entry} {if is_array($entry)} <li>{$entry@key}</li> {menu data=$entry level=$level+1} {else} <li>{$entry}</li> {/if} {/foreach} </ul>{/function}

{* create an array to demonstrate *}{$menu = ['item1','item2','item3' => ['item3-1','item3-2','item3-3' =>['item3-3-1','item3-3-2']],'item4']}

{* run the array through the function *}{menu data=$menu}

Will generate the following output

* item1* item2* item3 o item3-1 o item3-2 o item3-3 + item3-3-1 + item3-3-2* item4

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See also {call}

{if},{elseif},{else}{if} statements in Smarty have much the same flexibility as PHP if [http://php.net/if] statements, with afew added features for the template engine. Every {if} must be paired with a matching {/if}. {else}and {elseif} are also permitted. All PHP conditionals and functions are recognized, such as ||, or, &&,and, is_array(), etc.

If securty is enabled, only PHP functions from $php_functions property of the securty policy areallowed. See the Security section for details.

The following is a list of recognized qualifiers, which must be separated from surrounding elements byspaces. Note that items listed in [brackets] are optional. PHP equivalents are shown where applicable.

Qualifier Alternates Syntax Example Meaning PHP Equivalent

== eq $a eq $b equals ==

!= ne, neq $a neq $b not equals !=

> gt $a gt $b greater than >

< lt $a lt $b less than <

>= gte, ge $a ge $b greater than orequal

>=

<= lte, le $a le $b less than or equal <=

=== $a === 0 check for identity ===

! not not $a negation (unary) !

% mod $a mod $b modulous %

is [not] div by $a is not div by 4 divisible by $a % $b == 0

is [not] even $a is not even [not] an evennumber (unary)

$a % 2 == 0

is [not] even by $a is not even by $b grouping level [not]even

($a / $b) % 2 == 0

is [not] odd $a is not odd [not] an odd number(unary)

$a % 2 != 0

is [not] odd by $a is not odd by $b [not] an oddgrouping

($a / $b) % 2 != 0

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Example 7.42. {if} statements

{if $name eq 'Fred'} Welcome Sir.{elseif $name eq 'Wilma'} Welcome Ma'am.{else} Welcome, whatever you are.{/if}

{* an example with "or" logic *}{if $name eq 'Fred' or $name eq 'Wilma'} ...{/if}

{* same as above *}{if $name == 'Fred' || $name == 'Wilma'} ...{/if}

{* parenthesis are allowed *}{if ( $amount < 0 or $amount > 1000 ) and $volume >= #minVolAmt#} ...{/if}

{* you can also embed php function calls *}{if count($var) gt 0} ...{/if}

{* check for array. *}{if is_array($foo) } .....{/if}

{* check for not null. *}{if isset($foo) } .....{/if}

{* test if values are even or odd *}{if $var is even} ...{/if}{if $var is odd} ...{/if}{if $var is not odd} ...{/if}

{* test if var is divisible by 4 *}{if $var is div by 4} ...{/if}

{* test if var is even, grouped by two. i.e., 0=even, 1=even, 2=odd, 3=odd, 4=even, 5=even, etc.*}{if $var is even by 2} ...{/if}

{* 0=even, 1=even, 2=even, 3=odd, 4=odd, 5=odd, etc. *}{if $var is even by 3} ...{/if}

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Example 7.43. {if} with more examples

{if isset($name) && $name == 'Blog'} {* do something *}{elseif $name == $foo} {* do something *}{/if}

{if is_array($foo) && count($foo) > 0} {* do a foreach loop *}{/if}

{include}{include} tags are used for including other templates in the current template. Any variables availablein the current template are also available within the included template.

• The {include} tag must have the file attribute which contains the template resource path.

• Setting the optional assign attribute specifies the template variable that the output of {include} isassigned to, instead of being displayed. Similar to {assign}.

• Variables can be passed to included templates as attributes. Any variables explicitly passed to anincluded template are only available within the scope of the included file. Attribute variables overridecurrent template variables, in the case when they are named the same.

• You can use all variables from the including template inside the included template. But changes tovariables or new created variables inside the included template have local scope and are not visible insidethe including template after the {include} statement. This default behaviour can be changed for allvariables assigned in the included template by using the scope attribute at the {include} statementor for individual variables by using the scope attribute at the {assign} statement. The later is usefullto return values from the inculded template to the includung template.

• Use the syntax for template resources to {include} files outside of the $template_dir directory.

Attributes:

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

file string Yes n/a The name of thetemplate file toinclude

assign string No n/a The name of thevariable that theoutput of includewill be assigned to

cache_lifetime integer No n/a Enable caching ofthis subtemplatewith an individualcache lifetime

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

compile_id string/integer No n/a Compile thissubtemplate withan individualcompile_id

cache_id string/integer No n/a Enable caching ofthis subtemplatewith an individualcache_id

scope string No n/a Define the scopeof all inthe subtemplateassigned variables:'parent','root' or'global'

[var ...] [var type] No n/a variable to passlocal to template

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Disables caching of this subtemplate

caching Enable caching of this subtemplate

inline If set merge the compile code of the subtemplateinto the compiled calling template

Example 7.44. Simple {include} example

<html><head> <title>{$title}</title></head><body>{include file='page_header.tpl'}

{* body of template goes here, the $tpl_name variable is replaced with a value eg 'contact.tpl'*}{include file="$tpl_name.tpl"}

{* using shortform file attribute *}{include 'page_footer.tpl'}</body></html>

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Example 7.45. {include} passing variables

{include 'links.tpl' title='Newest links' links=$link_array}{* body of template goes here *}{include 'footer.tpl' foo='bar'}

The template above includes the example links.tpl below

<div id="box"><h3>{$title}{/h3><ul>{foreach from=$links item=l}.. do stuff ...</foreach}</ul></div>

Example 7.46. {include} using parent scope

Variables assigned in the included template will be seen in the including template.

{include 'sub_template.tpl' scope=parent}...{* display variables assigned in sub_template *}{$foo}<br>{$bar}<br>...

The template above includes the example sub_template.tpl below

...{assign var=foo value='something'}{assign var=bar value='value'}...

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Example 7.47. {include} with disabled caching

The included template will not be cached.

{include 'sub_template.tpl' nocache}...

Example 7.48. {include} with individual cache lifetime

In this example included template will be cached with an individual cache lifetime of 500 seconds.

{include 'sub_template.tpl' cache_lifteime=500}...

Example 7.49. {include} with forced caching

In this example included template will be cached independent of the global cahing setting.

{include 'sub_template.tpl' caching}...

Example 7.50. {include} and assign to variable

This example assigns the contents of nav.tpl to the $navbar variable, which is then output at boththe top and bottom of the page.

<body> {include 'nav.tpl' assign=navbar} {include 'header.tpl' title='Smarty is cool'} {$navbar} {* body of template goes here *} {$navbar} {include 'footer.tpl'}</body>

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Example 7.51. Various {include} resource examples

{* absolute filepath *}{include file='/usr/local/include/templates/header.tpl'}

{* absolute filepath (same thing) *}{include file='file:/usr/local/include/templates/header.tpl'}

{* windows absolute filepath (MUST use "file:" prefix) *}{include file='file:C:/www/pub/templates/header.tpl'}

{* include from template resource named "db" *}{include file='db:header.tpl'}

{* include a $variable template - eg $module = 'contacts' *}{include file="$module.tpl"}

{* wont work as its single quotes ie no variable substitution *}{include file='$module.tpl'}

{* include a multi $variable template - eg amber/links.view.tpl *}{include file="$style_dir/$module.$view.tpl"}

See also {include_php}, {insert}, {php}, template resources and componentized templates.

{include_php}IMPORTANT NOTICE

{include_php} is deprecated from Smarty, use registered plugins to properly insulatepresentation from the application code.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

file string Yes n/a The name of the phpfile to include asabsolute path

once boolean No TRUE whether or not toinclude the phpfile more than onceif included multipletimes

assign string No n/a The name ofthe variable thatthe output ofinclude_php will beassigned to

Option Flags:

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Name Description

nocache Disables caching of inluded PHP script

{include_php} tags are used to include a php script in your template. The path of the attribute filecan be either absolute, or relative to $trusted_dir. If security is enabled, then the script must belocated in the $trusted_dir path of the securty policy. See the Security section for details.

By default, php files are only included once even if called multiple times in the template. You can specifythat it should be included every time with the once attribute. Setting once to FALSE will include the phpscript each time it is included in the template.

You can optionally pass the assign attribute, which will specify a template variable name that the outputof {include_php} will be assigned to instead of displayed.

The smarty object is available as $_smarty_tpl->smarty within the PHP script that you include.

Example 7.52. function {include_php}

The load_nav.php file:

<?php

// load in variables from a mysql db and assign them to the templaterequire_once('database.class.php');$db = new Db();$db->query('select url, name from navigation order by name');$this->assign('navigation', $db->getRows());

?>

where the template is:

{* absolute path, or relative to $trusted_dir *}{include_php file='/path/to/load_nav.php'}{include_php '/path/to/load_nav.php'} {* short-hand *}

{foreach item='nav' from=$navigation} <a href="{$nav.url}">{$nav.name}</a><br />{/foreach}

See also {include}, $trusted_dir, {php}, {capture}, template resources and componentizedtemplates

{insert}{insert} tags work much like {include} tags, except that {insert} tags are NOT cached whentemplate caching is enabled. They will be executed on every invocation of the template.

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string Yes n/a The name ofthe insert function(insert_name) orinsert plugin

assign string No n/a The name of thetemplate variablethe output will beassigned to

script string No n/a The name of thephp script that isincluded before theinsert function iscalled

[var ...] [var type] No n/a variable to pass toinsert function

Let's say you have a template with a banner slot at the top of the page. The banner can contain any mixtureof HTML, images, flash, etc. so we can't just use a static link here, and we don't want this contents cachedwith the page. In comes the {insert} tag: the template knows #banner_location_id# and #site_id# values(gathered from a config file), and needs to call a function to get the banner contents.

Example 7.53. function {insert}

{* example of fetching a banner *}{insert name="getBanner" lid=#banner_location_id# sid=#site_id#}{insert "getBanner" lid=#banner_location_id# sid=#site_id#} {* short-hand *}

In this example, we are using the name “getBanner” and passing the parameters #banner_location_id# and#site_id#. Smarty will look for a function named insert_getBanner() in your PHP application, passing thevalues of #banner_location_id# and #site_id# as the first argument in an associative array. All {insert}function names in your application must be prepended with "insert_" to remedy possible function name-space conflicts. Your insert_getBanner() function should do something with the passed values and returnthe results. These results are then displayed in the template in place of the {insert} tag. In this example,Smarty would call this function: insert_getBanner(array("lid" => "12345","sid" => "67890")); and displaythe returned results in place of the {insert} tag.

• If you supply the assign attribute, the output of the {insert} tag will be assigned to this templatevariable instead of being output to the template.

Note

Assigning the output to a template variable isn't too useful with caching enabled.

• If you supply the script attribute, this php script will be included (only once) before the {insert}function is executed. This is the case where the insert function may not exist yet, and a php script mustbe included first to make it work.

The path can be either absolute, or relative to $trusted_dir. If security is enabled, then the scriptmust be located in the $trusted_dir path of the securty policy. See the Security section for details.

The Smarty object is passed as the second argument. This way you can reference and modify informationin the Smarty object from within the {insert} function.

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If no PHP script can be found Smarty is looking for a corresponding insert plugin.

Technical Note

It is possible to have portions of the template not cached. If you have caching turned on,{insert} tags will not be cached. They will run dynamically every time the page is created,even within cached pages. This works good for things like banners, polls, live weather, searchresults, user feedback areas, etc.

See also {include}

{ldelim},{rdelim}{ldelim} and {rdelim} are used for escaping template delimiters, by default { and }. You can alsouse {literal}{/literal} to escape blocks of text eg Javascript or CSS. See also the complimentary{$smarty.ldelim}.

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Example 7.54. {ldelim}, {rdelim}

{* this will print literal delimiters out of the template *}

{ldelim}funcname{rdelim} is how functions look in Smarty!

The above example will output:

{funcname} is how functions look in Smarty!

Another example with some Javascript

<script language="JavaScript">function foo() {ldelim} ... code ...{rdelim}</script>

will output

<script language="JavaScript">function foo() { .... code ...}</script>

Example 7.55. Another Javascript example

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> function myJsFunction(){ldelim} alert("The server name\n{$smarty.server.SERVER_NAME}\n{$smarty.server.SERVER_ADDR}"); {rdelim}</script><a href="javascript:myJsFunction()">Click here for Server Info</a>

See also {literal} and escaping Smarty parsing.

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{literal}{literal} tags allow a block of data to be taken literally. This is typically used around Javascriptor stylesheet blocks where {curly braces} would interfere with the template delimiter syntax. Anythingwithin {literal}{/literal} tags is not interpreted, but displayed as-is. If you need templatetags embedded in a {literal} block, consider using {ldelim}{rdelim} to escape the individualdelimiters instead.

Note

{literal}{/literal} tags are normally not necessary, as Smarty ignores delimiters thatare surrounded by whitespace. Be sure your javascript and CSS curly braces are surrounded bywhitespace. This is new behavior to Smarty 3.

Example 7.56. {literal} tags

<script> // the following braces are ignored by Smarty // since they are surrounded by whitespace function myFoo { alert('Foo!'); } // this one will need literal escapement {literal} function myBar {alert('Bar!');} {/literal}</script>

See also {ldelim} {rdelim} and the escaping Smarty parsing page.

{nocache}{nocache} is used to disable caching of a template section. Every {nocache} must be paired witha matching {/nocache}.

Note

Be sure any variables used within a non-cached section are also assigned from PHP when thepage is loaded from the cache.

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Example 7.57. Preventing a template section from being cached

Today's date is{nocache}{$smarty.now|date_format}{/nocache}

The above code will output the current date on a cached page.

See also the caching section.

{php}IMPORTANT NOTICE

{php} tags are deprecated from Smarty, and should not be used. Put your PHP logic in PHPscripts or plugin functions instead.

The {php} tags allow PHP code to be embedded directly into the template. They will not be escaped,regardless of the $php_handling setting.

Example 7.58. php code within {php} tags

{php} // including a php script directly from the template. include('/path/to/display_weather.php');{/php}

Example 7.59. {php} tags with global and assigning a variable

{* this template includes a {php} block that assign's the variable $varX *}{php} global $foo, $bar; if($foo == $bar){ echo 'This will be sent to browser'; } // assign a variable to Smarty $this->assign('varX','Toffee');{/php}{* output the variable *}<strong>{$varX}</strong> is my fav ice cream :-)

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See also $php_handling, {include_php}, {include}, {insert} and componentizedtemplates.

{section},{sectionelse}A {section} is for looping over sequentially indexed arrays of data, unlike {foreach} which isused to loop over a single associative array. Every {section} tag must be paired with a closing {/section} tag.

Note

The {foreach} loop can do everything a {section} loop can do, and has a simpler and easiersyntax. It is usually preferred over the {section} loop.

Note

{section} loops cannot loop over associative arrays, they must be numerically indexed, andsequential (0,1,2,...). For associative arrays, use the {foreach} loop.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string Yes n/a The name of thesection

loop mixed Yes n/a Value to determinethe number of loopiterations

start integer No 0 The index positionthat the section willbegin looping. If thevalue is negative,the start positionis calculated fromthe end of thearray. For example,if there are sevenvalues in the looparray and start is-2, the start indexis 5. Invalid values(values outside ofthe length ofthe loop array)are automaticallytruncated to theclosest valid value.

step integer No 1 The step value thatwill be used totraverse the looparray. For example,step=2 will loopon index 0,2,4,

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

etc. If step isnegative, it will stepthrough the arraybackwards.

max integer No n/a Sets the maximumnumber of times thesection will loop.

show boolean No TRUE Determineswhether or not toshow this section

Option Flags:

Name Description

nocache Disables caching of the {section} loop

• Required attributes are name and loop.

• The name of the {section} can be anything you like, made up of letters, numbers and underscores,like PHP variables [http://php.net/language.variables].

• {section}'s can be nested, and the nested {section} names must be unique from each other.

• The loop attribute, usually an array of values, determines the number of times the {section} willloop. You can also pass an integer as the loop value.

• When printing a variable within a {section}, the {section} name must be given next to variablename within [brackets].

• {sectionelse} is executed when there are no values in the loop variable.

• A {section} also has its own variables that handle {section} properties. These properties areaccessible as: {$smarty.section.name.property} where “name” is the attribute name.

• {section} properties are index, index_prev, index_next, iteration, first, last,rownum, loop, show, total.

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Example 7.60. Looping a simple array with {section}

assign() an array to Smarty

<?php$data = array(1000,1001,1002);$smarty->assign('custid',$data);?>

The template that outputs the array

{* this example will print out all the values of the $custid array *}{section name=customer loop=$custid}{section customer $custid} {* short-hand *} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />{/section}<hr />{* print out all the values of the $custid array reversed *}{section name=foo loop=$custid step=-1}{section foo $custid step=-1} {* short-hand *} {$custid[foo]}<br />{/section}

The above example will output:

id: 1000<br />id: 1001<br />id: 1002<br /><hr />id: 1002<br />id: 1001<br />id: 1000<br />

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Example 7.61. {section} without an assigned array

{section name=foo start=10 loop=20 step=2} {$smarty.section.foo.index}{/section}<hr />{section name=bar loop=21 max=6 step=-2} {$smarty.section.bar.index}{/section}

The above example will output:

10 12 14 16 18<hr />20 18 16 14 12 10

Example 7.62. Naming a {section}

The name of the {section} can be anything you like, see PHP variables [http://php.net/language.variables]. It is used to reference the data within the {section}.

{section name=anything loop=$myArray} {$myArray[anything].foo} {$name[anything]} {$address[anything].bar}{/section}

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Example 7.63. Looping an associative array with {section}This is an example of printing an associative array of data with a {section}. Following is the php scriptto assign the $contacts array to Smarty.

<?php$data = array( array('name' => 'John Smith', 'home' => '555-555-5555', 'cell' => '666-555-5555', 'email' => 'john@myexample.com'), array('name' => 'Jack Jones', 'home' => '777-555-5555', 'cell' => '888-555-5555', 'email' => 'jack@myexample.com'), array('name' => 'Jane Munson', 'home' => '000-555-5555', 'cell' => '123456', 'email' => 'jane@myexample.com') );$smarty->assign('contacts',$data);?>

The template to output $contacts

{section name=customer loop=$contacts}<p> name: {$contacts[customer].name}<br /> home: {$contacts[customer].home}<br /> cell: {$contacts[customer].cell}<br /> e-mail: {$contacts[customer].email}</p>{/section}

The above example will output:

<p> name: John Smith<br /> home: 555-555-5555<br /> cell: 666-555-5555<br /> e-mail: john@myexample.com</p><p> name: Jack Jones<br /> home phone: 777-555-5555<br /> cell phone: 888-555-5555<br /> e-mail: jack@myexample.com</p><p> name: Jane Munson<br /> home phone: 000-555-5555<br /> cell phone: 123456<br /> e-mail: jane@myexample.com</p>

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Example 7.64. {section} demonstrating the loop variableThis example assumes that $custid, $name and $address are all arrays containing the same numberof values. First the php script that assign's the arrays to Smarty.

<?php

$id = array(1001,1002,1003);$smarty->assign('custid',$id);

$fullnames = array('John Smith','Jack Jones','Jane Munson');$smarty->assign('name',$fullnames);

$addr = array('253 Abbey road', '417 Mulberry ln', '5605 apple st');$smarty->assign('address',$addr);

?>

The loop variable only determines the number of times to loop. You can access ANY variable from thetemplate within the {section}. This is useful for looping multiple arrays. You can pass an array whichwill determine the loop count by the array size, or you can pass an integer to specify the number of loops.

{section name=customer loop=$custid}<p> id: {$custid[customer]}<br /> name: {$name[customer]}<br /> address: {$address[customer]}</p>{/section}

The above example will output:

<p> id: 1000<br /> name: John Smith<br /> address: 253 Abbey road</p><p> id: 1001<br /> name: Jack Jones<br /> address: 417 Mulberry ln</p><p> id: 1002<br /> name: Jane Munson<br /> address: 5605 apple st</p>

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Example 7.65. Nested {section}'s

{section}'s can be nested as deep as you like. With nested {section}'s, you can access complex datastructures, such as multi-dimensional arrays. This is an example .php script thats assign's the arrays.<?php

$id = array(1001,1002,1003);$smarty->assign('custid',$id);

$fullnames = array('John Smith','Jack Jones','Jane Munson');$smarty->assign('name',$fullnames);

$addr = array('253 N 45th', '417 Mulberry ln', '5605 apple st');$smarty->assign('address',$addr);

$types = array( array( 'home phone', 'cell phone', 'e-mail'), array( 'home phone', 'web'), array( 'cell phone') );$smarty->assign('contact_type', $types);

$info = array( array('555-555-5555', '666-555-5555', 'john@myexample.com'), array( '123-456-4', 'www.example.com'), array( '0457878') );$smarty->assign('contact_info', $info);

?>

In this template, $contact_type[customer] is an array of contact types for the current customer.{section name=customer loop=$custid}<hr> id: {$custid[customer]}<br /> name: {$name[customer]}<br /> address: {$address[customer]}<br /> {section name=contact loop=$contact_type[customer]} {$contact_type[customer][contact]}: {$contact_info[customer][contact]}<br /> {/section}{/section}

The above example will output:<hr> id: 1000<br /> name: John Smith<br /> address: 253 N 45th<br /> home phone: 555-555-5555<br /> cell phone: 666-555-5555<br /> e-mail: john@myexample.com<br /><hr> id: 1001<br /> name: Jack Jones<br /> address: 417 Mulberry ln<br /> home phone: 123-456-4<br /> web: www.example.com<br /><hr> id: 1002<br /> name: Jane Munson<br /> address: 5605 apple st<br /> cell phone: 0457878<br />

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Example 7.66. Database example with a {sectionelse}

Results of a database search (eg ADODB or PEAR) are assigned to Smarty

<?php$sql = 'select id, name, home, cell, email from contacts ' ."where name like '$foo%' ";$smarty->assign('contacts', $db->getAll($sql));?>

The template to output the database result in a HTML table

<table><tr><th>&nbsp;</th><th>Name></th><th>Home</th><th>Cell</th><th>Email</th></tr>{section name=co loop=$contacts} <tr> <td><a href="view.php?id={$contacts[co].id}">view<a></td> <td>{$contacts[co].name}</td> <td>{$contacts[co].home}</td> <td>{$contacts[co].cell}</td> <td>{$contacts[co].email}</td> <tr>{sectionelse} <tr><td colspan="5">No items found</td></tr>{/section}</table>

.index

index contains the current array index, starting with zero or the start attribute if given. It incrementsby one or by the step attribute if given.

Note

If the step and start properties are not modified, then this works the same as the iterationproperty, except it starts at zero instead of one.

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Example 7.67. {section} index property

Note

$custid[customer.index] and $custid[customer] are identical.

{section name=customer loop=$custid} {$smarty.section.customer.index} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />{/section}

The above example will output:

0 id: 1000<br />1 id: 1001<br />2 id: 1002<br />

.index_prev

index_prev is the previous loop index. On the first loop, this is set to -1.

.index_next

index_next is the next loop index. On the last loop, this is still one more than the current index,respecting the setting of the step attribute, if given.

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Example 7.68. index, index_next and index_prev properties

<?php$data = array(1001,1002,1003,1004,1005);$smarty->assign('rows',$data);?>

Template to output the above array in a table

{* $rows[row.index] and $rows[row] are identical in meaning *}<table> <tr> <th>index</th><th>id</th> <th>index_prev</th><th>prev_id</th> <th>index_next</th><th>next_id</th> </tr>{section name=row loop=$rows} <tr> <td>{$smarty.section.row.index}</td><td>{$rows[row]}</td> <td>{$smarty.section.row.index_prev}</td><td>{$rows[row.index_prev]}</td> <td>{$smarty.section.row.index_next}</td><td>{$rows[row.index_next]}</td> </tr>{/section}</table>

The above example will output a table containing the following:

index id index_prev prev_id index_next next_id0 1001 -1 1 10021 1002 0 1001 2 10032 1003 1 1002 3 10043 1004 2 1003 4 10054 1005 3 1004 5

.iterationiteration contains the current loop iteration and starts at one.

Note

This is not affected by the {section} properties start, step and max, unlike the indexproperty. iteration also starts with one instead of zero unlike index. rownum is an aliasto iteration, they are identical.

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Example 7.69. A section's iteration property

<?php// array of 3000 to 3015$id = range(3000,3015);$smarty->assign('arr',$id);?>Template to output every other element of the $arr array as step=2

{section name=cu loop=$arr start=5 step=2} iteration={$smarty.section.cu.iteration} index={$smarty.section.cu.index} id={$custid[cu]}<br />{/section}

The above example will output:

iteration=1 index=5 id=3005<br />iteration=2 index=7 id=3007<br />iteration=3 index=9 id=3009<br />iteration=4 index=11 id=3011<br />iteration=5 index=13 id=3013<br />iteration=6 index=15 id=3015<br />

Another example that uses the iteration property to output a table header block every five rows.

<table>{section name=co loop=$contacts} {if $smarty.section.co.iteration is div by 5} <tr><th>&nbsp;</th><th>Name></th><th>Home</th><th>Cell</th><th>Email</th></tr> {/if} <tr> <td><a href="view.php?id={$contacts[co].id}">view<a></td> <td>{$contacts[co].name}</td> <td>{$contacts[co].home}</td> <td>{$contacts[co].cell}</td> <td>{$contacts[co].email}</td> <tr>{/section}</table>

An that uses the iteration property to alternate a text color every third row. <table> {section name=co loop=$contacts} {if $smarty.section.co.iteration is even by 3} <span style="color: #ffffff">{$contacts[co].name}</span> {else} <span style="color: #dddddd">{$contacts[co].name}</span> {/if} {/section} </table>

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Note

The "is div by" syntax is a simpler alternative to the PHP mod operator syntax. The mod operatoris allowed: {if $smarty.section.co.iteration % 5 == 1} will work just the same.

Note

You can also use "is odd by" to reverse the alternating.

.firstfirst is set to TRUE if the current {section} iteration is the initial one.

.lastlast is set to TRUE if the current section iteration is the final one.

Example 7.70. {section} property first and last

This example loops the $customers array, outputs a header block on the first iteration and on the lastoutputs the footer block. Also uses the total property.

{section name=customer loop=$customers} {if $smarty.section.customer.first} <table> <tr><th>id</th><th>customer</th></tr> {/if}

<tr> <td>{$customers[customer].id}}</td> <td>{$customers[customer].name}</td> </tr>

{if $smarty.section.customer.last} <tr><td></td><td>{$smarty.section.customer.total} customers</td></tr> </table> {/if}{/section}

.rownumrownum contains the current loop iteration, starting with one. It is an alias to iteration, they workidentically.

.looploop contains the last index number that this {section} looped. This can be used inside or after the{section}.

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Example 7.71. {section} property loop

{section name=customer loop=$custid} {$smarty.section.customer.index} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />{/section}There are {$smarty.section.customer.loop} customers shown above.

The above example will output:

0 id: 1000<br />1 id: 1001<br />2 id: 1002<br />There are 3 customers shown above.

.show

show is used as a parameter to section and is a boolean value. If FALSE, the section will not be displayed.If there is a {sectionelse} present, that will be alternately displayed.

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Example 7.72. show property

Boolean $show_customer_info has been passed from the PHP application, to regulate whether ornot this section shows.

{section name=customer loop=$customers show=$show_customer_info} {$smarty.section.customer.rownum} id: {$customers[customer]}<br />{/section}

{if $smarty.section.customer.show} the section was shown.{else} the section was not shown.{/if}

The above example will output:

1 id: 1000<br />2 id: 1001<br />3 id: 1002<br />

the section was shown.

.totaltotal contains the number of iterations that this {section} will loop. This can be used inside or aftera {section}.

Example 7.73. total property example

{section name=customer loop=$custid step=2} {$smarty.section.customer.index} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />{/section} There are {$smarty.section.customer.total} customers shown above.

See also {foreach}, {for} and $smarty.section.

{strip}Many times web designers run into the issue where white space and carriage returns affect the output ofthe rendered HTML (browser "features"), so you must run all your tags together in the template to get thedesired results. This usually ends up in unreadable or unmanageable templates.

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Anything within {strip}{/strip} tags are stripped of the extra spaces or carriage returns at thebeginnings and ends of the lines before they are displayed. This way you can keep your templates readable,and not worry about extra white space causing problems.

Note

{strip}{/strip} does not affect the contents of template variables, see the strip modifierinstead.

Example 7.74. {strip} tags

{* the following will be all run into one line upon output *}{strip}<table border='0'> <tr> <td> <a href="{$url}"> <font color="red">This is a test</font> </a> </td> </tr></table>{/strip}

The above example will output:

<table border='0'><tr><td><a href="http://. snipped...</a></td></tr></table>

Notice that in the above example, all the lines begin and end with HTML tags. Be aware that all the linesare run together. If you have plain text at the beginning or end of any line, they will be run together, andmay not be desired results.

See also the strip modifier.

{while}{while} loopss in Smarty have much the same flexibility as PHP while [http://php.net/while] statements,with a few added features for the template engine. Every {while} must be paired with a matching {/while}. All PHP conditionals and functions are recognized, such as ||, or, &&, and, is_array(), etc.

The following is a list of recognized qualifiers, which must be separated from surrounding elements byspaces. Note that items listed in [brackets] are optional. PHP equivalents are shown where applicable.

Qualifier Alternates Syntax Example Meaning PHP Equivalent

== eq $a eq $b equals ==

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Qualifier Alternates Syntax Example Meaning PHP Equivalent

!= ne, neq $a neq $b not equals !=

> gt $a gt $b greater than >

< lt $a lt $b less than <

>= gte, ge $a ge $b greater than orequal

>=

<= lte, le $a le $b less than or equal <=

=== $a === 0 check for identity ===

! not not $a negation (unary) !

% mod $a mod $b modulous %

is [not] div by $a is not div by 4 divisible by $a % $b == 0

is [not] even $a is not even [not] an evennumber (unary)

$a % 2 == 0

is [not] even by $a is not even by $b grouping level [not]even

($a / $b) % 2 == 0

is [not] odd $a is not odd [not] an odd number(unary)

$a % 2 != 0

is [not] odd by $a is not odd by $b [not] an oddgrouping

($a / $b) % 2 != 0

Example 7.75. {while} loop

{while $foo > 0} {$foo--}{/while}

The above example will count down the value of $foo until 1 is reached.

See also {foreach} and {for}.

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Chapter 8. Custom FunctionsSmarty comes with several custom plugin functions that you can use in the templates.

{counter}{counter} is used to print out a count. {counter} will remember the count on each iteration. Youcan adjust the number, the interval and the direction of the count, as well as determine whether or not toprint the value. You can run multiple counters concurrently by supplying a unique name for each one. Ifyou do not supply a name, the name “default” will be used.

If you supply the assign attribute, the output of the {counter} function will be assigned to thistemplate variable instead of being output to the template.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string No default The name of thecounter

start number No 1 The initial numberto start countingfrom

skip number No 1 The interval tocount by

direction string No up The direction tocount (up/down)

print boolean No TRUE Whether or not toprint the value

assign string No n/a the templatevariable the outputwill be assigned to

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Example 8.1. {counter}

{* initialize the count *}{counter start=0 skip=2}<br />{counter}<br />{counter}<br />{counter}<br />

this will output:

0<br />2<br />4<br />6<br />

{cycle}{cycle} is used to alternate a set of values. This makes it easy to for example, alternate between two ormore colors in a table, or cycle through an array of values.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string No default The name of thecycle

values mixed Yes N/A The values to cyclethrough, either acomma delimitedlist (see delimiterattribute), or anarray of values

print boolean No TRUE Whether to print thevalue or not

advance boolean No TRUE Whether or not toadvance to the nextvalue

delimiter string No , The delimiter touse in the valuesattribute

assign string No n/a The templatevariable the outputwill be assigned to

reset boolean No FALSE The cycle will be setto the first value andnot advanced

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• You can {cycle} through more than one set of values in a template by supplying a name attribute.Give each {cycle} an unique name.

• You can force the current value not to print with the print attribute set to FALSE. This would beuseful for silently skipping a value.

• The advance attribute is used to repeat a value. When set to FALSE, the next call to {cycle} willprint the same value.

• If you supply the assign attribute, the output of the {cycle} function will be assigned to a templatevariable instead of being output to the template.

Example 8.2. {cycle}

{section name=rows loop=$data}<tr class="{cycle values="odd,even"}"> <td>{$data[rows]}</td></tr>{/section}

The above template would output:

<tr class="odd"> <td>1</td></tr><tr class="even"> <td>2</td></tr><tr class="odd"> <td>3</td></tr>

{eval}{eval} is used to evaluate a variable as a template. This can be used for things like embedding templatetags/variables into variables or tags/variables into config file variables.

If you supply the assign attribute, the output of the {eval} function will be assigned to this templatevariable instead of being output to the template.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

var mixed Yes n/a Variable (or string)to evaluate

assign string No n/a The templatevariable the outputwill be assigned to

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Technical Note

• Evaluated variables are treated the same as templates. They follow the same escapement andsecurity features just as if they were templates.

• Evaluated variables are compiled on every invocation, the compiled versions are not saved!However if you have caching enabled, the output will be cached with the rest of the template.

Example 8.3. {eval}

The contents of the config file, setup.conf.

emphstart = <strong>emphend = </strong>title = Welcome to {$company}'s home page!ErrorCity = You must supply a {#emphstart#}city{#emphend#}.ErrorState = You must supply a {#emphstart#}state{#emphend#}.

Where the template is:

{config_load file='setup.conf'}

{eval var=$foo}{eval var=#title#}{eval var=#ErrorCity#}{eval var=#ErrorState# assign='state_error'}{$state_error}

The above template will output:

This is the contents of foo.Welcome to Foobar Pub & Grill's home page!You must supply a <strong>city</strong>.You must supply a <strong>state</strong>.

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Example 8.4. Another {eval} example

This outputs the server name (in uppercase) and IP. The assigned variable $str could be from a databasequery.

<?php$str = 'The server name is {$smarty.server.SERVER_NAME|upper} ' .'at {$smarty.server.SERVER_ADDR}';$smarty->assign('foo',$str);?>

Where the template is:

{eval var=$foo}

{fetch}{fetch} is used to retrieve files from the local file system, http, or ftp and display the contents.

• If the file name begins with http://, the web site page will be fetched and displayed.

Note

This will not support http redirects, be sure to include a trailing slash on your web page fetcheswhere necessary.

• If the file name begins with ftp://, the file will be downloaded from the ftp server and displayed.

• For local files, either a full system file path must be given, or a path relative to the executed php script.

Note

If security is enabled and you are fetching a file from the local file system, {fetch} willonly allow files from within the $secure_dir path of the securty policy. See the Securitysection for details.

• If the assign attribute is set, the output of the {fetch} function will be assigned to this templatevariable instead of being output to the template.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

file string Yes n/a The file, http or ftpsite to fetch

assign string No n/a The templatevariable the outputwill be assigned to

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Example 8.5. {fetch} examples

{* include some javascript in your template *}{fetch file='/export/httpd/www.example.com/docs/navbar.js'}

{* embed some weather text in your template from another web site *}{fetch file='http://www.myweather.com/68502/'}

{* fetch a news headline file via ftp *}{fetch file='ftp://user:password@ftp.example.com/path/to/currentheadlines.txt'}{* as above but with variables *}{fetch file="ftp://`$user`:`$password`@`$server`/`$path`"}

{* assign the fetched contents to a template variable *}{fetch file='http://www.myweather.com/68502/' assign='weather'}{if $weather ne ''} <div id="weather">{$weather}</div>{/if}

See also {capture}, {eval}, {assign} and fetch().

{html_checkboxes}{html_checkboxes} is a custom function that creates an html checkbox group with provided data. Ittakes care of which item(s) are selected by default as well.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string No checkbox Name of checkboxlist

values array Yes, unless usingoptions attribute

n/a An array ofvalues for checkboxbuttons

output array Yes, unless usingoptions attribute

n/a An array ofoutput for checkboxbuttons

selected string/array No empty The selectedcheckboxelement(s)

options associative array Yes, unless usingvalues and output

n/a An associativearray of values andoutput

separator string No empty String of textto separate eachcheckbox item

assign string No empty Assign checkboxtags to an arrayinstead of output

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

labels boolean No TRUE Add <label>-tags tothe output

• Required attributes are values and output, unless you use options instead.

• All output is XHTML compliant.

• All parameters that are not in the list above are printed as name/value-pairs inside each of the created<input>-tags.

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Example 8.6. {html_checkboxes}

<?php

$smarty->assign('cust_ids', array(1000,1001,1002,1003));$smarty->assign('cust_names', array( 'Joe Schmoe', 'Jack Smith', 'Jane Johnson', 'Charlie Brown') );$smarty->assign('customer_id', 1001);

?>

where template is

{html_checkboxes name='id' values=$cust_ids output=$cust_names selected=$customer_id separator='<br />'}

or where PHP code is:

<?php

$smarty->assign('cust_checkboxes', array( 1000 => 'Joe Schmoe', 1001 => 'Jack Smith', 1002 => 'Jane Johnson', 1003 => 'Charlie Brown') );$smarty->assign('customer_id', 1001);

?>

and the template is

{html_checkboxes name='id' options=$cust_checkboxes selected=$customer_id separator='<br />'}

both examples will output:

<label><input type="checkbox" name="id[]" value="1000" />Joe Schmoe</label><br /><label><input type="checkbox" name="id[]" value="1001" checked="checked" />Jack Smith</label><br /><label><input type="checkbox" name="id[]" value="1002" />Jane Johnson</label><br /><label><input type="checkbox" name="id[]" value="1003" />Charlie Brown</label><br />

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Example 8.7. Database example (eg PEAR or ADODB):

<?php

$sql = 'select type_id, types from contact_types order by type';$smarty->assign('contact_types',$db->getAssoc($sql));

$sql = 'select contact_id, contact_type_id, contact ' .'from contacts where contact_id=12';$smarty->assign('contact',$db->getRow($sql));

?>

The results of the database queries above would be output with.

{html_checkboxes name='contact_type_id' options=$contact_types selected=$contact.contact_type_id separator='<br />'}

See also {html_radios} and {html_options}

{html_image}{html_image} is a custom function that generates an HTML <img> tag. The height and widthare automatically calculated from the image file if they are not supplied.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

file string Yes n/a name/path to image

height string No actual image height Height to displayimage

width string No actual image width Width to displayimage

basedir string no web serverdoc root

Directory to baserelative paths from

alt string no “” Alternativedescription of theimage

href string no n/a href value to linkthe image to

path_prefix string no n/a Prefix for outputpath

• basedir is the base directory that relative image paths are based from. If not given, the web server'sdocument root $_ENV['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] is used as the base. If security is enabled, then the imagemust be located in the $secure_dir path of the securty policy. See the Security section for details.

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• href is the href value to link the image to. If link is supplied, an <a href="LINKVALUE"><a>tag is placed around the image tag.

• path_prefix is an optional prefix string you can give the output path. This is useful if you want tosupply a different server name for the image.

• All parameters that are not in the list above are printed as name/value-pairs inside the created <img> tag.

Technical Note

{html_image} requires a hit to the disk to read the image and calculate the height and width. Ifyou don't use template caching, it is generally better to avoid {html_image} and leave imagetags static for optimal performance.

Example 8.8. {html_image} example

{html_image file='pumpkin.jpg'}{html_image file='/path/from/docroot/pumpkin.jpg'}{html_image file='../path/relative/to/currdir/pumpkin.jpg'}

Example output of the above template would be:

<img src="pumpkin.jpg" alt="" width="44" height="68" /><img src="/path/from/docroot/pumpkin.jpg" alt="" width="44" height="68" /><img src="../path/relative/to/currdir/pumpkin.jpg" alt="" width="44" height="68" />

{html_options}{html_options} is a custom function that creates the html <select><option> group with theassigned data. It takes care of which item(s) are selected by default as well.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

values array Yes, unless usingoptions attribute

n/a An array of valuesfor dropdown

output array Yes, unless usingoptions attribute

n/a An array of outputfor dropdown

selected string/array No empty The selected optionelement(s)

options associative array Yes, unless usingvalues and output

n/a An associativearray of values andoutput

name string No empty Name of selectgroup

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• Required attributes are values and output, unless you use the combined options instead.

• If the optional name attribute is given, the <select></select> tags are created, otherwise ONLYthe <option> list is generated.

• If a given value is an array, it will treat it as an html <optgroup>, and display the groups. Recursionis supported with <optgroup>.

• All parameters that are not in the list above are printed as name/value-pairs inside the <select> tag.They are ignored if the optional name is not given.

• All output is XHTML compliant.

Example 8.9. Associative array with the options attribute

<?php$smarty->assign('myOptions', array( 1800 => 'Joe Schmoe', 9904 => 'Jack Smith', 2003 => 'Charlie Brown') );$smarty->assign('mySelect', 9904);?>

The following template will generate a drop-down list. Note the presence of the name attribute whichcreates the <select> tags.

{html_options name=foo options=$myOptions selected=$mySelect}

Output of the above example would be:

<select name="foo"><option label="Joe Schmoe" value="1800">Joe Schmoe</option><option label="Jack Smith" value="9904" selected="selected">Jack Smith</option><option label="Charlie Brown" value="2003">Charlie Brown</option></select>

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Example 8.10. Dropdown with seperate arrays for values and ouptut

<?php$smarty->assign('cust_ids', array(56,92,13));$smarty->assign('cust_names', array( 'Joe Schmoe', 'Jane Johnson', 'Charlie Brown'));$smarty->assign('customer_id', 92);?>

The above arrays would be output with the following template (note the use of the php count() [http://php.net/function.count] function as a modifier to set the select size).

<select name="customer_id" size="{$cust_names|@count}"> {html_options values=$cust_ids output=$cust_names selected=$customer_id}</select>

The above example would output:

<select name="customer_id" size="3"> <option label="Joe Schmoe" value="56">Joe Schmoe</option> <option label="Jack Smith" value="92" selected="selected">Jane Johnson</option> <option label="Charlie Brown" value="13">Charlie Brown</option></select>

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Example 8.11. Database example (eg ADODB or PEAR)

<?php

$sql = 'select type_id, types from contact_types order by type';$smarty->assign('contact_types',$db->getAssoc($sql));

$sql = 'select contact_id, name, email, contact_type_id from contacts where contact_id='.$contact_id;$smarty->assign('contact',$db->getRow($sql));

?>

Where a template could be as follows. Note the use of the truncate modifier.

<select name="type_id"> <option value='null'>-- none --</option> {html_options options=$contact_types|truncate:20 selected=$contact.type_id}</select>

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Example 8.12. Dropdown's with <optgroup>

<?php$arr['Sport'] = array(6 => 'Golf', 9 => 'Cricket',7 => 'Swim');$arr['Rest'] = array(3 => 'Sauna',1 => 'Massage');$smarty->assign('lookups', $arr);$smarty->assign('fav', 7);?>

The script above and the following template

{html_options name=foo options=$lookups selected=$fav}

would output:

<select name="foo"><optgroup label="Sport"><option label="Golf" value="6">Golf</option><option label="Cricket" value="9">Cricket</option><option label="Swim" value="7" selected="selected">Swim</option></optgroup><optgroup label="Rest"><option label="Sauna" value="3">Sauna</option><option label="Massage" value="1">Massage</option></optgroup></select>

See also {html_checkboxes} and {html_radios}

{html_radios}{html_radios} is a custom function that creates a HTML radio button group. It also takes care ofwhich item is selected by default as well.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

name string No radio Name of radio list

values array Yes, unless usingoptions attribute

n/a An array of valuesfor radio buttons

output array Yes, unless usingoptions attribute

n/a An array of outputfor radio buttons

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

selected string No empty The selected radioelement

options associative array Yes, unless usingvalues and output

n/a An associativearray of values andoutput

separator string No empty String of text toseparate each radioitem

assign string No empty Assign radio tags toan array instead ofoutput

• Required attributes are values and output, unless you use options instead.

• All output is XHTML compliant.

• All parameters that are not in the list above are output as name/value-pairs inside each of the created<input>-tags.

Example 8.13. {html_radios} first example

<?php

$smarty->assign('cust_ids', array(1000,1001,1002,1003));$smarty->assign('cust_names', array( 'Joe Schmoe', 'Jack Smith', 'Jane Johnson', 'Charlie Brown') );$smarty->assign('customer_id', 1001);

?>

Where template is:

{html_radios name='id' values=$cust_ids output=$cust_names selected=$customer_id separator='<br />'}

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Example 8.14. {html_radios} second example

<?php

$smarty->assign('cust_radios', array( 1000 => 'Joe Schmoe', 1001 => 'Jack Smith', 1002 => 'Jane Johnson', 1003 => 'Charlie Brown'));$smarty->assign('customer_id', 1001);

?>

Where template is:

{html_radios name='id' options=$cust_radios selected=$customer_id separator='<br />'}

Both examples will output:

<label for="id_1000"><input type="radio" name="id" value="1000" id="id_1000" />Joe Schmoe</label><br /><label for="id_1001"><input type="radio" name="id" value="1001" id="id_1001" checked="checked" />Jack Smith</label><br /><label for="id_1002"><input type="radio" name="id" value="1002" id="id_1002" />Jane Johnson</label><br /><label for="id_1003"><input type="radio" name="id" value="1003" id="id_1003" />Charlie Brown</label><br />

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Example 8.15. {html_radios} - Database example (eg PEAR or ADODB):

<?php

$sql = 'select type_id, types from contact_types order by type';$smarty->assign('contact_types',$db->getAssoc($sql));

$sql = 'select contact_id, name, email, contact_type_id ' .'from contacts where contact_id='.$contact_id;$smarty->assign('contact',$db->getRow($sql));

?>

The variable assigned from the database above would be output with the template:

{html_radios name='contact_type_id' options=$contact_types selected=$contact.contact_type_id separator='<br />'}

See also {html_checkboxes} and {html_options}

{html_select_date}{html_select_date} is a custom function that creates date dropdowns. It can display any or all ofyear, month, and day. All parameters that are not in the list below are printed as name/value-pairs insidethe <select> tags of day, month and year.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

prefix string No Date_ What to prefix thevar name with

time timestamp/YYYY-MM-DD

No current time inunix timestamp

or YYYY-MM-DD format

What date/time touse

start_year string No current year The first year in thedropdown, eitheryear number, orrelative to currentyear (+/- N)

end_year string No same as start_year The last year in thedropdown, eitheryear number, orrelative to currentyear (+/- N)

display_days boolean No TRUE Whether to displaydays or not

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

display_months boolean No TRUE Whether to displaymonths or not

display_years boolean No TRUE Whether to displayyears or not

month_format string No %B What format themonth should be in(strftime)

day_format string No %02d What format theday output shouldbe in (sprintf)

day_value_format string No %d What format theday value should bein (sprintf)

year_as_text boolean No FALSE Whether or not todisplay the year astext

reverse_years boolean No FALSE Display years inreverse order

field_array string No null If a name is given,the select boxeswill be drawn suchthat the resultswill be returnedto PHP in theform of name[Day],name[Year],name[Month].

day_size string No null Adds size attributeto select tag if given

month_size string No null Adds size attributeto select tag if given

year_size string No null Adds size attributeto select tag if given

all_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to allselect/input tags ifgiven

day_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

month_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

year_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

field_order string No MDY The order in whichto display the fields

field_separator string No \n String printedbetween differentfields

month_value_format string No %m strftime() format ofthe month values,default is %m formonth numbers.

year_empty string No null If supplied thenthe first element ofthe year's select-box has this valueas it's label and“” as it's value.This is useful tomake the select-boxread “Please selecta year” for example.Note that you canuse values like “-MM-DD” as time-attribute to indicatean unselected year.

month_empty string No null If supplied then thefirst element of themonth's select-boxhas this value as it'slabel and “” as it'svalue. . Note thatyou can use valueslike “YYYY--DD”as time-attributeto indicate anunselected month.

day_empty string No null If supplied then thefirst element of theday's select-box hasthis value as it'slabel and “” asit's value. Note thatyou can use valueslike “YYYY-MM-”as time-attributeto indicate anunselected day.

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Note

There is an useful php function on the date tips page for converting {html_select_date}form values to a timestamp.

Example 8.16. {html_select_date}

Template code

{html_select_date}

This will output:

<select name="Date_Month"><option value="1">January</option><option value="2">February</option><option value="3">March</option> ..... snipped .....<option value="10">October</option><option value="11">November</option><option value="12" selected="selected">December</option></select><select name="Date_Day"><option value="1">01</option><option value="2">02</option><option value="3">03</option> ..... snipped .....<option value="11">11</option><option value="12">12</option><option value="13" selected="selected">13</option><option value="14">14</option><option value="15">15</option> ..... snipped .....<option value="29">29</option><option value="30">30</option><option value="31">31</option></select><select name="Date_Year"><option value="2006" selected="selected">2006</option></select>

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Example 8.17. {html_select_date} second example

{* start and end year can be relative to current year *}{html_select_date prefix='StartDate' time=$time start_year='-5' end_year='+1' display_days=false}

With 2000 as the current year the output:

<select name="StartDateMonth"><option value="1">January</option><option value="2">February</option>.... snipped ....<option value="11">November</option><option value="12" selected="selected">December</option></select><select name="StartDateYear"><option value="1995">1995</option>.... snipped ....<option value="1999">1999</option><option value="2000" selected="selected">2000</option><option value="2001">2001</option></select>

See also {html_select_time}, date_format, $smarty.now and the date tips page.

{html_select_time}{html_select_time} is a custom function that creates time dropdowns for you. It can display anyor all of hour, minute, second and meridian.

The time attribute can have different formats. It can be a unique timestamp, a string of the formatYYYYMMDDHHMMSS or a string that is parseable by PHP's strtotime() [http://php.net/strtotime].

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

prefix string No Time_ What to prefix thevar name with

time timestamp No current time What date/time touse

display_hours boolean No TRUE Whether or not todisplay hours

display_minutes boolean No TRUE Whether or not todisplay minutes

display_seconds boolean No TRUE Whether or not todisplay seconds

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

display_meridian boolean No TRUE Whether or notto display meridian(am/pm)

use_24_hours boolean No TRUE Whether or not touse 24 hour clock

minute_interval integer No 1 Number interval inminute dropdown

second_interval integer No 1 Number interval insecond dropdown

field_array string No n/a Outputs values toarray of this name

all_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

hour_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

minute_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

second_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

meridian_extra string No null Adds extraattributes to select/input tags if given

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Example 8.18. {html_select_time}

{html_select_time use_24_hours=true}

At 9:20 and 23 seconds in the morning the template above would output:

<select name="Time_Hour"><option value="00">00</option><option value="01">01</option>... snipped ....<option value="08">08</option><option value="09" selected>09</option><option value="10">10</option>... snipped ....<option value="22">22</option><option value="23">23</option></select><select name="Time_Minute"><option value="00">00</option><option value="01">01</option>... snipped ....<option value="19">19</option><option value="20" selected>20</option><option value="21">21</option>... snipped ....<option value="58">58</option><option value="59">59</option></select><select name="Time_Second"><option value="00">00</option><option value="01">01</option>... snipped ....<option value="22">22</option><option value="23" selected>23</option><option value="24">24</option>... snipped ....<option value="58">58</option><option value="59">59</option></select><select name="Time_Meridian"><option value="am" selected>AM</option><option value="pm">PM</option></select>

See also $smarty.now, {html_select_date} and the date tips page.

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{html_table}{html_table} is a custom function that dumps an array of data into an HTML <table>.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

loop array Yes n/a Array of data toloop through

cols mixed No 3 Number of columnsin the table ora comma-separatedlist of columnheading names oran array of columnheading names.ifthe cols-attribute isempty, but rowsare given, then thenumber of cols iscomputed by thenumber of rowsand the number ofelements to displayto be just enoughcols to display allelements. If both,rows and cols,are omitted colsdefaults to 3. ifgiven as a list orarray, the numberof columns iscomputed from thenumber of elementsin the list or array.

rows integer No empty Number of rowsin the table. ifthe rows-attributeis empty, but colsare given, then thenumber of rowsis computed bythe number of colsand the number ofelements to displayto be just enoughrows to display allelements.

inner string No cols Direction ofconsecutiveelements in theloop-array to be

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Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

rendered. colsmeans elements aredisplayed col-by-col. rows meanselements aredisplayed row-by-row.

caption string No empty Text to be used forthe <caption>element of the table

table_attr string No border="1" Attributes for<table> tag

th_attr string No empty Attributes for <th>tag (arrays arecycled)

tr_attr string No empty attributes for <tr>tag (arrays arecycled)

td_attr string No empty Attributes for <td>tag (arrays arecycled)

trailpad string No &nbsp; Value to pad thetrailing cells on lastrow with (if any)

hdir string No right Direction of eachrow to be rendered.possible values:right (left-to-right),and left (right-to-left)

vdir string No down Direction of eachcolumn to berendered. possiblevalues: down (top-to-bottom), up(bottom-to-top)

• The cols attribute determines how many columns will be in the table.

• The table_attr, tr_attr and td_attr values determine the attributes given to the <table>,<tr> and <td> tags.

• If tr_attr or td_attr are arrays, they will be cycled through.

• trailpad is the value put into the trailing cells on the last table row if there are any present.

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Example 8.19. {html_table}

<?php$smarty->assign( 'data', array(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) );$smarty->assign( 'tr', array('bgcolor="#eeeeee"','bgcolor="#dddddd"') );$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

The variables assigned from php could be displayed as these three examples demonstrate. Each exampleshows the template followed by output.

{**** Example One ****}{html_table loop=$data}

<table border="1"><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>8</td><td>9</td></tr></tbody></table>

{**** Example Two ****}{html_table loop=$data cols=4 table_attr='border="0"'}

<table border="0"><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>

{**** Example Three ****}{html_table loop=$data cols="first,second,third,fourth" tr_attr=$tr}

<table border="1"><thead><tr><th>first</th><th>second</th><th>third</th><th>fourth</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr bgcolor="#eeeeee"><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>4</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#dddddd"><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>8</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#eeeeee"><td>9</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>

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151

{mailto}{mailto} automates the creation of a mailto: anchor links and optionally encodes them. Encodingemails makes it more difficult for web spiders to lift email addresses off of a site.

Technical Note

Javascript is probably the most thorough form of encoding, although you can use hex encodingtoo.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

address string Yes n/a The e-mail address

text string No n/a The text to display,default is the e-mailaddress

encode string No none How to encodethe e-mail. Can beone of none, hex,javascript orjavascript_charcode.

cc string No n/a Email addressesto carbon copy,separate entries by acomma.

bcc string No n/a Email addresses toblind carbon copy,separate entries by acomma

subject string No n/a Email subject

newsgroups string No n/a Newsgroups to postto, separate entriesby a comma.

followupto string No n/a Addresses to followup to, separateentries by a comma.

extra string No n/a Any extrainformation youwant passed to thelink, such as stylesheet classes

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Example 8.20. {mailto} example lines followed by the result

{mailto address="me@example.com"}<a href="mailto:me@example.com" >me@example.com</a>

{mailto address="me@example.com" text="send me some mail"}<a href="mailto:me@example.com" >send me some mail</a>

{mailto address="me@example.com" encode="javascript"}<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> eval(unescape('%64%6f% ... snipped ...%61%3e%27%29%3b'))</script>

{mailto address="me@example.com" encode="hex"}<a href="mailto:%6d%65.. snipped..3%6f%6d">&#x6d;&..snipped...#x6f;&#x6d;</a>

{mailto address="me@example.com" subject="Hello to you!"}<a href="mailto:me@example.com?subject=Hello%20to%20you%21" >me@example.com</a>

{mailto address="me@example.com" cc="you@example.com,they@example.com"}<a href="mailto:me@example.com?cc=you@example.com%2Cthey@example.com" >me@example.com</a>

{mailto address="me@example.com" extra='class="email"'}<a href="mailto:me@example.com" class="email">me@example.com</a>

{mailto address="me@example.com" encode="javascript_charcode"}<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> <!-- {document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,97, ... snipped ....60,47,97,62))} //--></script>

See also escape, {textformat} and obfuscating email addresses.

{math}{math} allows the template designer to do math equations in the template.

• Any numeric template variables may be used in the equations, and the result is printed in place of the tag.

• The variables used in the equation are passed as parameters, which can be template variables or staticvalues.

• +, -, /, *, abs, ceil, cos, exp, floor, log, log10, max, min, pi, pow, rand, round, sin, sqrt, srans and tan areall valid operators. Check the PHP documentation for further information on these math [http://php.net/eval] functions.

• If you supply the assign attribute, the output of the {math} function will be assigned to this templatevariable instead of being output to the template.

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Technical Note

{math} is an expensive function in performance due to its use of the php eval() [http://php.net/eval] function. Doing the math in PHP is much more efficient, so whenever possible dothe math calculations in the script and assign() the results to the template. Definitely avoidrepetitive {math} function calls, eg within {section} loops.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

equation string Yes n/a The equation toexecute

format string No n/a The format of theresult (sprintf)

var numeric Yes n/a Equation variablevalue

assign string No n/a Template variablethe output will beassigned to

[var ...] numeric Yes n/a Equation variablevalue

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Example 8.21. {math}Example a:

{* $height=4, $width=5 *}

{math equation="x + y" x=$height y=$width}

The above example will output:

9

Example b:

{* $row_height = 10, $row_width = 20, #col_div# = 2, assigned in template *}

{math equation="height * width / division" height=$row_height width=$row_width division=#col_div#}

The above example will output:

100

Example c:

{* you can use parenthesis *}

{math equation="(( x + y ) / z )" x=2 y=10 z=2}

The above example will output:

6

Example d:

{* you can supply a format parameter in sprintf format *}

{math equation="x + y" x=4.4444 y=5.0000 format="%.2f"} The above example will output:

9.44

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{textformat}{textformat} is a block function used to format text. It basically cleans up spaces and specialcharacters, and formats paragraphs by wrapping at a boundary and indenting lines.

You can set the parameters explicitly, or use a preset style. Currently “email” is the only available style.

Attribute Name Type Required Default Description

style string No n/a Preset style

indent number No 0 The number ofchars to indentevery line

indent_first number No 0 The number ofchars to indent thefirst line

indent_char string No (single space) The character (orstring of chars) toindent with

wrap number No 80 How manycharacters to wrapeach line to

wrap_char string No \n The character (orstring of chars) tobreak each line with

wrap_cut boolean No FALSE If TRUE, wrap willbreak the line atthe exact characterinstead of at a wordboundary

assign string No n/a The templatevariable the outputwill be assigned to

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Example 8.22. {textformat}

{textformat wrap=40}

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{/textformat}

The above example will output:

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{textformat wrap=40 indent=4}

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{/textformat}

The above example will output:

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{textformat wrap=40 indent=4 indent_first=4}

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{/textformat}

The above example will output:

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{textformat style="email"}

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

{/textformat}

The above example will output:

This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo. This is foo.

This is bar.

bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo. bar foo bar foo foo.

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See also {strip} and wordwrap.

158

Chapter 9. Config FilesConfig files are handy for designers to manage global template variables from one file. One example istemplate colors. Normally if you wanted to change the color scheme of an application, you would have togo through each and every template file and change the colors. With a config file, the colors can be keptin one place, and only one file needs to be updated.

Example 9.1. Example of config file syntax

# global variablespageTitle = "Main Menu"bodyBgColor = #000000tableBgColor = #000000rowBgColor = #00ff00

[Customer]pageTitle = "Customer Info"

[Login]pageTitle = "Login"focus = "username"Intro = """This is a value that spans more than one line. you must enclose it in triple quotes."""

# hidden section[.Database]host=my.example.comdb=ADDRESSBOOKuser=php-userpass=foobar

Values of config file variables can be in quotes, but not necessary. You can use either single or doublequotes. If you have a value that spans more than one line, enclose the entire value with triple quotes (""").You can put comments into config files by any syntax that is not a valid config file syntax. We recommendusing a # (hash) at the beginning of the line.

The example config file above has two sections. Section names are enclosed in [brackets]. Section namescan be arbitrary strings not containing [ or ] symbols. The four variables at the top are global variables,or variables not within a section. These variables are always loaded from the config file. If a particularsection is loaded, then the global variables and the variables from that section are also loaded. If a variableexists both as a global and in a section, the section variable is used. If you name two variables the samewithin a section, the last one will be used unless $config_overwrite is disabled.

Config files are loaded into templates with the built-in template function {config_load} or the APIconfig_load() function.

You can hide variables or entire sections by prepending the variable name or section name with a periodeg [.hidden]. This is useful if your application reads the config files and gets sensitive data from them

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159

that the template engine does not need. If you have third parties doing template editing, you can be certainthat they cannot read sensitive data from the config file by loading it into the template.

See also {config_load}, $config_overwrite, get_config_vars(), clear_config()and config_load()

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Chapter 10. Debugging ConsoleThere is a debugging console included with Smarty. The console informs you of all the included templates,assigned variables and config file variables for the current invocation of the template. A template filenamed debug.tpl is included with the distribution of Smarty which controls the formatting of theconsole.

Set $debugging to TRUE in Smarty, and if needed set $debug_tpl to the template resource path todebug.tpl (this is in SMARTY_DIR by default). When you load the page, a Javascript console windowwill pop up and give you the names of all the included templates and assigned variables for the current page.

To see the available variables for a particular template, see the {debug} template function. To disablethe debugging console, set $debugging to FALSE. You can also temporarily turn on the debuggingconsole by putting SMARTY_DEBUG in the URL if you enable this option with $debugging_ctrl .

Technical Note

The debugging console does not work when you use the fetch() API, only when usingdisplay(). It is a set of javascript statements added to the very bottom of the generatedtemplate. If you do not like javascript, you can edit the debug.tpl template to format the outputhowever you like. Debug data is not cached and debug.tpl info is not included in the outputof the debug console.

Note

The load times of each template and config file are in seconds, or fractions thereof.

See also troubleshooting.

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Table of Contents11. Constants .................................................................................................................. 165

SMARTY_DIR ....................................................................................................... 16512. Smarty Class Variables ............................................................................................... 166

$template_dir .......................................................................................................... 166$compile_dir .......................................................................................................... 166$config_dir ............................................................................................................. 166$plugins_dir ........................................................................................................... 167$debugging ............................................................................................................ 167$debug_tpl ............................................................................................................. 168$debugging_ctrl ...................................................................................................... 168$auto_literal ........................................................................................................... 168$autoload_filters ...................................................................................................... 168$compile_check ...................................................................................................... 169$force_compile ....................................................................................................... 169$caching ................................................................................................................ 169$cache_id ............................................................................................................... 170$cache_dir ............................................................................................................. 170$cache_lifetime ....................................................................................................... 170$cache_handler_func ................................................................................................ 170$cache_modified_check ............................................................................................ 171$config_overwrite .................................................................................................... 171$config_booleanize .................................................................................................. 171$config_read_hidden ................................................................................................ 172$config_fix_newlines ............................................................................................... 172$default_template_handler_func ................................................................................. 172$php_handling ........................................................................................................ 172$trusted_dir ............................................................................................................ 172$left_delimiter ........................................................................................................ 172$right_delimiter ...................................................................................................... 172$compiler_class ...................................................................................................... 173$request_vars_order ................................................................................................. 173$request_use_auto_globals ........................................................................................ 173$compile_id ........................................................................................................... 173$use_sub_dirs ......................................................................................................... 174$default_modifiers ................................................................................................... 174$default_resource_type ............................................................................................. 174

13. Smarty Class Methods() .............................................................................................. 175append() ................................................................................................................ 176appendByRef() ........................................................................................................ 177assign() .................................................................................................................. 178assignByRef() ......................................................................................................... 180clearAllAssign() ...................................................................................................... 181clearAllCache() ....................................................................................................... 182clearAssign() .......................................................................................................... 183clearCache() ........................................................................................................... 184clearCompiledTemplate() .......................................................................................... 185clearConfig() .......................................................................................................... 186compileAllConfig() .................................................................................................. 187compileAllTemplates() ............................................................................................. 188configLoad() ........................................................................................................... 189createData() ............................................................................................................ 190

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createTemplate() ..................................................................................................... 191disableSecurity() ..................................................................................................... 193display() ................................................................................................................ 194enableSecurity() ...................................................................................................... 196fetch() ................................................................................................................... 197getConfigVars() ...................................................................................................... 199getRegisteredObject() ............................................................................................... 200getTags() ............................................................................................................... 201getTemplateVars() ................................................................................................... 202isCached() .............................................................................................................. 203loadFilter() ............................................................................................................. 205registerFilter() ......................................................................................................... 206registerPlugin() ....................................................................................................... 207registerObject() ....................................................................................................... 210registerResource() .................................................................................................... 211templateExists() ...................................................................................................... 212unregisterFilter() ..................................................................................................... 213unregisterPlugin ...................................................................................................... 214unregisterObject() .................................................................................................... 215unregisterResource() ................................................................................................ 216testInstall() ............................................................................................................. 217

14. Caching .................................................................................................................... 218Setting Up Caching ................................................................................................. 218Multiple Caches Per Page ......................................................................................... 220Cache Groups ......................................................................................................... 222Controlling Cacheability of Plugins' Output ................................................................. 223

15. Advanced Features ..................................................................................................... 226Security ................................................................................................................. 226Changing settings by template ................................................................................... 228Template Inheritance ............................................................................................... 229Streams ................................................................................................................. 231Objects .................................................................................................................. 232Static Classes ......................................................................................................... 233Prefilters ................................................................................................................ 234Postfilters ............................................................................................................... 235Output Filters ......................................................................................................... 235Cache Handler Function ........................................................................................... 236Resources .............................................................................................................. 238

Templates from $template_dir ........................................................................... 238Templates from any directory ............................................................................ 238Templates from strings ..................................................................................... 239Template inheritance defined by PHP script ......................................................... 240Templates from other sources ............................................................................ 240Default template handler function ....................................................................... 243

16. Extending Smarty With Plugins .................................................................................... 244How Plugins Work .................................................................................................. 244Naming Conventions ............................................................................................... 244Writing Plugins ....................................................................................................... 245Template Functions ................................................................................................. 245Modifiers ............................................................................................................... 247Block Functions ...................................................................................................... 249Compiler Functions ................................................................................................. 251Prefilters/Postfilters .................................................................................................. 252Output Filters ......................................................................................................... 253

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Resources .............................................................................................................. 254Inserts ................................................................................................................... 256

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Chapter 11. ConstantsSMARTY_DIR

This is the full system path to the location of the Smarty class files. If this is not defined in your script,then Smarty will attempt to determine the appropriate value automatically. If defined, the path must endwith a trailing slash/.

Example 11.1. SMARTY_DIR

<?php// set path to Smarty directory *nix styledefine('SMARTY_DIR', '/usr/local/lib/php/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');

// path to Smarty windows styledefine('SMARTY_DIR', 'c:/webroot/libs/Smarty-v.e.r/libs/');

// include the smarty class, note 'S' is upper caserequire_once(SMARTY_DIR . 'Smarty.class.php');?>

See also $smarty.const and $php_handling constants

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Chapter 12. Smarty Class VariablesThese are all of the available Smarty class variables. You can access them directly, or use the correspondingsetter/getter methods.

Note

All class variables have magic setter/getter methods available. setter/getter methods arecamelCaseFormat, unlike the variable itself. So for example, you can set and get the$smarty->template_dir variable with $smarty->setTemplateDir($dir) and $dir = $smarty->getTemplateDir() respectively.

Note

See Changing settings by template section for how to change Smarty class variablesfor individual templates.

$template_dirThis is the name of the default template directory. If you do not supply a resource type when includingfiles, they will be found here. By default this is ./templates, meaning that Smarty will look for thetemplates/ directory in the same directory as the executing php script.

Technical Note

It is not recommended to put this directory under the web server document root.

$compile_dirThis is the name of the directory where compiled templates are located. By default this is ./templates_c, meaning that Smarty will look for the templates_c/ directory in the same directoryas the executing php script. This directory must be writeable by the web server, see install for more info.

Technical Note

This setting must be either a relative or absolute path. include_path is not used for writing files.

Technical Note

It is not recommended to put this directory under the web server document root.

See also $compile_id and $use_sub_dirs.

$config_dirThis is the directory used to store config files used in the templates. Default is ./configs, meaning thatSmarty will look for the configs/ directory in the same directory as the executing php script.

Technical Note

It is not recommended to put this directory under the web server document root.

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$plugins_dirThis is the directory or directories where Smarty will look for the plugins that it needs. Default isplugins/ under the SMARTY_DIR. If you supply a relative path, Smarty will first look under theSMARTY_DIR, then relative to the current working directory, then relative to the PHP include_path. If$plugins_dir is an array of directories, Smarty will search for your plugin in each plugin directoryin the order they are given.

Technical Note

For best performance, do not setup your $plugins_dir to have to use the PHP include path.Use an absolute pathname, or a path relative to SMARTY_DIR or the current working directory.

Example 12.1. Appending a local plugin dir

<?php

$smarty->plugins_dir[] = 'includes/my_smarty_plugins';

?>

Example 12.2. Multiple $plugins_dir

<?php

$smarty->plugins_dir = array( 'plugins', // the default under SMARTY_DIR '/path/to/shared/plugins', '../../includes/my/plugins' );

?>

$debuggingThis enables the debugging console. The console is a javascript popup window that informs you of theincluded templates, variables assigned from php and config file variables for the current script. It does notshow variables assigned within a template with the {assign} function.

The console can also be enabled from the url with $debugging_ctrl.

See also {debug}, $debug_tpl, and $debugging_ctrl.

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$debug_tplThis is the name of the template file used for the debugging console. By default, it is named debug.tpland is located in the SMARTY_DIR.

See also $debugging and the debugging console section.

$debugging_ctrlThis allows alternate ways to enable debugging. NONE means no alternate methods are allowed. URLmeans when the keyword SMARTY_DEBUG is found in the QUERY_STRING, debugging is enabled forthat invocation of the script. If $debugging is TRUE, this value is ignored.

Example 12.3. $debugging_ctrl on localhost

<?php// shows debug console only on localhost ie// http://localhost/script.php?foo=bar&SMARTY_DEBUG$smarty->debugging = false; // the default$smarty->debugging_ctrl = ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] == 'localhost') ? 'URL' : 'NONE';?>

See also debugging console section and $debugging.

$auto_literalThe Smarty delimiter tags { and } will be ignored so long as they are surrounded by white space. Thisbehavior can be disabled by setting auto_literal to false.

<?php$smarty->auto_literal = false;?>

See also Escaping Smarty Parsing,

$autoload_filtersIf there are some filters that you wish to load on every template invocation, you can specify them usingthis variable and Smarty will automatically load them for you. The variable is an associative array wherekeys are filter types and values are arrays of the filter names. For example:

<?php$smarty->autoload_filters = array('pre' => array('trim', 'stamp'),

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'output' => array('convert'));?>

See also registerFilter() and loadFilter()

$compile_checkUpon each invocation of the PHP application, Smarty tests to see if the current template has changed(different time stamp) since the last time it was compiled. If it has changed, it recompiles that template.If the template has not been compiled, it will compile regardless of this setting. By default this variableis set to TRUE.

Once an application is put into production (ie the templates won't be changing), the compile check step isno longer needed. Be sure to set $compile_check to FALSE for maximal performance. Note that ifyou change this to FALSE and a template file is changed, you will *not* see the change since the templatewill not get recompiled. If $caching is enabled and $compile_check is enabled, then the cache fileswill get regenerated if an involved template file or config file was updated. See $force_compile andclear_compiled_tpl() .

$force_compileThis forces Smarty to (re)compile templates on every invocation. This setting overrides$compile_check. By default this is FALSE. This is handy for development and debugging. It shouldnever be used in a production environment. If $caching is enabled, the cache file(s) will be regeneratedevery time.

$cachingThis tells Smarty whether or not to cache the output of the templates to the $cache_dir. By default thisis set to the constant Smarty::CACHING_OFF. If your templates consistently generate the same content,it is advisable to turn on $caching, as this may result in significant performance gains.

You can also have multiple caches for the same template.

• A constant value of Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT orSmarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_SAVED enables caching.

• A value of Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT tells Smarty to use the current$cache_lifetime variable to determine if the cache has expired.

• A value of Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_SAVED tells Smarty to use the $cache_lifetimevalue at the time the cache was generated. This way you can set the $cache_lifetime justbefore fetching the template to have granular control over when that particular cache expires. See alsoisCached().

• If $compile_check is enabled, the cached content will be regenerated if any of the templates orconfig files that are part of this cache are changed.

• If $force_compile is enabled, the cached content will always be regenerated.

See also $cache_dir, $cache_lifetime, $cache_handler_func,$cache_modified_check, is_cached() and the caching section.

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$cache_idPersistent cache_id identifier. As an alternative to passing the same $cache_id to each and everyfunction call, you can set this $cache_id and it will be used implicitly thereafter.

With a $cache_id you can have multiple cache files for a single call to display() or fetch()depending for example from different content of the same template. See the caching section for moreinformation.

$cache_dirThis is the name of the directory where template caches are stored. By default this is ./cache, meaningthat Smarty will look for the cache/ directory in the same directory as the executing php script. Thisdirectory must be writeable by the web server, see install for more info.

You can also use your own custom cache handler function to control cache files, which will ignore thissetting. See also $use_sub_dirs.

Technical Note

This setting must be either a relative or absolute path. include_path is not used for writing files.

Technical Note

It is not recommended to put this directory under the web server document root.

See also $caching, $use_sub_dirs, $cache_lifetime, $cache_handler_func,$cache_modified_check and the caching section.

$cache_lifetimeThis is the length of time in seconds that a template cache is valid. Once this time has expired, the cachewill be regenerated.

• $caching must be turned on (either SMARTY_CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT orSMARTY_CACHING_LIFETIME_SAVED) for $cache_lifetime to have any purpose.

• A $cache_lifetime value of -1 will force the cache to never expire.

• A value of 0 will cause the cache to always regenerate (good for testing only, to disable caching a moreefficient method is to set $caching = SMARTY_CACHING_OFF).

• If you want to give certain templates their own cache lifetime, you could do this by setting $caching= SMARTY_CACHING_LIFETIME_SAVED, then set $cache_lifetime to a unique value justbefore calling display() or fetch().

If $force_compile is enabled, the cache files will be regenerated every time, effectively disablingcaching. You can clear all the cache files with the clear_all_cache() function, or individual cachefiles (or groups) with the clear_cache() function.

$cache_handler_funcYou can supply a custom function to handle cache files instead of using the built-in method using the$cache_dir. See the custom cache handler function section for more details.

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$cache_modified_checkIf set to TRUE, Smarty will respect the If-Modified-Since header sent from the client. If the cached filetimestamp has not changed since the last visit, then a '304: Not Modified' header will be sentinstead of the content. This works only on cached content without {insert} tags.

See also $caching, $cache_lifetime, $cache_handler_func, and the caching section.

$config_overwriteIf set to TRUE, the default then variables read in from config files will overwrite each other. Otherwise,the variables will be pushed onto an array. This is helpful if you want to store arrays of data in config files,just list each element multiple times.

Example 12.4. Array of config #variables#

This examples uses {cycle} to output a table with alternating red/green/blue row colors with$config_overwrite = FALSE.

The config file.

# row colorsrowColors = #FF0000rowColors = #00FF00rowColors = #0000FF

The template with a {section} loop.

<table> {section name=r loop=$rows} <tr bgcolor="{cycle values=#rowColors#}"> <td> ....etc.... </td> </tr> {/section}</table>

See also {config_load}, get_config_vars(), clear_config(), config_load() and theconfig files section.

$config_booleanizeIf set to TRUE, config files values of on/true/yes and off/false/no get converted to booleanvalues automatically. This way you can use the values in the template like so: {if #foobar#}...{/if}. If foobar was on, true or yes, the {if} statement will execute. Defaults to TRUE.

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$config_read_hiddenIf set to TRUE, hidden sections ie section names beginning with a .period in config files can be read fromtemplates. Typically you would leave this FALSE, that way you can store sensitive data in the config filessuch as database parameters and not worry about the template loading them. FALSE by default.

$config_fix_newlinesIf set to TRUE, mac and dos newlines ie '\r' and '\r\n' in config files are converted to '\n' whenthey are parsed. Default is TRUE.

$default_template_handler_funcThis function is called when a template cannot be obtained from its resource.

$php_handlingThis tells Smarty how to handle PHP code embedded in the templates. There are four possible settings,the default being Smarty::PHP_PASSTHRU. Note that this does NOT affect php code within {php}{/php} tags in the template.

• Smarty::PHP_PASSTHRU - Smarty echos tags as-is.

• Smarty::PHP_QUOTE - Smarty quotes the tags as html entities.

• Smarty::PHP_REMOVE - Smarty removes the tags from the templates.

• Smarty::PHP_ALLOW - Smarty will execute the tags as PHP code.

Note

Embedding PHP code into templates is highly discouraged. Use custom functions or modifiersinstead.

$trusted_dir$trusted_dir is only for use when security is enabled. This is an array of all directories that areconsidered trusted. Trusted directories are where you keep php scripts that are executed directly from thetemplates with {include_php}.

$left_delimiterThis is the left delimiter used by the template language. Default is {.

See also $right_delimiter and escaping smarty parsing .

$right_delimiterThis is the right delimiter used by the template language. Default is }.

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See also $left_delimiter and escaping smarty parsing.

$compiler_classSpecifies the name of the compiler class that Smarty will use to compile the templates. The default is'Smarty_Compiler'. For advanced users only.

$request_vars_orderThe order in which request variables are registered, similar to variables_order in php.ini

See also $smarty.request and $request_use_auto_globals.

$request_use_auto_globalsSpecifies if Smarty should use PHP's $HTTP_*_VARS[] when FALSE or $_*[] when TRUEwhich is the default value. This affects templates that make use of {$smarty.request.*},{$smarty.get.*} etc.

Caution

If you set $request_use_auto_globals to true, $request_vars_order has noeffect but PHP's configuration value gpc_order is used.

$compile_idPersistant compile identifier. As an alternative to passing the same $compile_id to each and everyfunction call, you can set this $compile_id and it will be used implicitly thereafter.

With a $compile_id you can work around the limitation that you cannot use the same $compile_dirfor different $template_dirs. If you set a distinct $compile_id for each $template_dir thenSmarty can tell the compiled templates apart by their $compile_id.

If you have for example a prefilter that localizes your templates (that is: translates language dependendparts) at compile time, then you could use the current language as $compile_id and you will get a setof compiled templates for each language you use.

Another application would be to use the same compile directory across multiple domains / multiple virtualhosts.

Example 12.5. $compile_id in a virtual host environment

<?php

$smarty->compile_id = $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'];$smarty->compile_dir = '/path/to/shared_compile_dir';

?>

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$use_sub_dirsSmarty will create subdirectories under the compiled templates and cache directories if $use_sub_dirsis set to TRUE, default is FALSE. In an environment where there are potentially tens of thousands of filescreated, this may help the filesystem speed. On the other hand, some environments do not allow PHPprocesses to create directories, so this must be disabled which is the default.

Sub directories are more efficient, so use them if you can. Theoretically you get much better perfomanceon a filesystem with 10 directories each having 100 files, than with 1 directory having 1000 files. Thiswas certainly the case with Solaris 7 (UFS)... with newer filesystems such as ext3 and especially reiserfs,the difference is almost nothing.

Technical Note

• $use_sub_dirs=true doesn't work with safe_mode=On [http://php.net/features.safe-mode], that's why it's switchable and why it's off by default.

• $use_sub_dirs=true on Windows can cause problems.

• Safe_mode is being deprecated in PHP6.

See also $compile_id, $cache_dir, and $compile_dir.

$default_modifiersThis is an array of modifiers to implicitly apply to every variable in a template. For example, to HTML-escape every variable by default, use array('escape:"htmlall"'). To make a variable exemptfrom default modifiers, pass the special smarty modifier with a parameter value of nodefaultsmodifier to it, such as {$var|smarty:nodefaults}.

$default_resource_typeThis tells smarty what resource type to use implicitly. The default value is file, meaning that $smarty->display('index.tpl') and $smarty->display('file:index.tpl') are identical inmeaning. See the resource chapter for more details.

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Chapter 13. Smarty Class Methods()Note

See Changing settings by template section for how to use the functions for individualtemplates.

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Nameappend() — append an element to an assigned array

Description void append(mixed var);

void append(string varname, mixed var, bool merge);

If you append to a string value, it is converted to an array value and then appended to. You can explicitlypass name/value pairs, or associative arrays containing the name/value pairs. If you pass the optional thirdparameter of TRUE, the value will be merged with the current array instead of appended.

Technical Note

The merge parameter respects array keys, so if you merge two numerically indexed arrays,they may overwrite each other or result in non-sequential keys. This is unlike the PHParray_merge() [http://php.net/array_merge] function which wipes out numerical keys andrenumbers them.

Example 13.1. append

<?php// This is effectively the same as assign()$smarty->append('foo', 'Fred');// After this line, foo will now be seen as an array in the template$smarty->append('foo', 'Albert');

$array = array(1 => 'one', 2 => 'two');$smarty->append('X', $array);$array2 = array(3 => 'three', 4 => 'four');// The following line will add a second element to the X array$smarty->append('X', $array2);

// passing an associative array$smarty->append(array('city' => 'Lincoln', 'state' => 'Nebraska'));?>

See also appendByRef(), assign() and getTemplateVars()

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NameappendByRef() — append values by reference

Description void appendByRef(string varname, mixed var, bool merge);

This is used to append() values to the templates by reference.

Technical Note

With the introduction of PHP5, appendByRef() is not necessary for most intents andpurposes. appendByRef() is useful if you want a PHP array index value to be affected by itsreassignment from a template. Assigned object properties behave this way by default.

Technical Note

The merge parameter respects array keys, so if you merge two numerically indexed arrays,they may overwrite each other or result in non-sequential keys. This is unlike the PHParray_merge() [http://php.net/array_merge] function which wipes out numerical keys andrenumbers them.

Example 13.2. appendByRef

<?php// appending name/value pairs$smarty->appendByRef('Name', $myname);$smarty->appendByRef('Address', $address);?>

See also append(), assign() and getTemplateVars().

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Nameassign() — assign variables/objects to the templates

Description void assign(mixed var);

void assign(string varname, mixed var);

You can explicitly pass name/value pairs, or associative arrays containing the name/value pairs.

Note

When you assign/register objects to templates, be sure that all properties and methods accessedfrom the template are for presentation purposes only. It is very easy to inject application logicthrough objects, and this leads to poor designs that are difficult to manage. See the Best Practicessection of the Smarty website.

Example 13.3. assign()

<?php// passing name/value pairs$smarty->assign('Name', 'Fred');$smarty->assign('Address', $address);

// passing an associative array$smarty->assign(array('city' => 'Lincoln', 'state' => 'Nebraska'));

// passing an array$myArray = array('no' => 10, 'label' => 'Peanuts');$smarty->assign('foo',$myArray);

// passing a row from a database (eg adodb)$sql = 'select id, name, email from contacts where contact ='.$id;$smarty->assign('contact', $db->getRow($sql));?>

These are accessed in the template with

{* note the vars are case sensitive like php *}{$Name}{$Address}{$city}{$state}

{$foo.no}, {$foo.label}{$contact.id}, {$contact.name},{$contact.email}

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To access more complex array assignments see {foreach} and {section}

See also assignByRef(), getTemplateVars(), clearAssign(), append() and {assign}

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NameassignByRef() — assign values by reference

Description void assignByRef(string varname, mixed var);

This is used to assign() values to the templates by reference.

Technical Note

With the introduction of PHP5, assignByRef() is not necessary for most intents andpurposes. assignByRef() is useful if you want a PHP array index value to be affected by itsreassignment from a template. Assigned object properties behave this way by default.

Example 13.4. assignByRef()

<?php// passing name/value pairs$smarty->assignByRef('Name', $myname);$smarty->assignByRef('Address', $address);?>

See also assign(), clearAllAssign(), append(), {assign} and getTemplateVars().

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NameclearAllAssign() — clears the values of all assigned variables

Description void clearAllAssign();

Example 13.5. clearAllAssign()

<?php// passing name/value pairs$smarty->assign('Name', 'Fred');$smarty->assign('Address', $address);

// will output aboveprint_r( $smarty->getTemplateVars() );

// clear all assigned variables$smarty->clearAllAssign();

// will output nothingprint_r( $smarty->getTemplateVars() );

?>

See also clearAssign(), clearConfig(), getTemplateVars(), assign() and append()

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NameclearAllCache() — clears the entire template cache

Description void clearAllCache(int expire_time);

As an optional parameter, you can supply a minimum age in seconds the cache files must be before theywill get cleared.

Example 13.6. clearAllCache

<?php// clear the entire cache$smarty->cache->clearAll();

// clears all files over one hour old$smarty->cache->clearAll(3600);?>

See also clearCache(), isCached() and the caching page.

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NameclearAssign() — clears the value of an assigned variable

Description void clearAssign(mixed var);

This can be a single value, or an array of values.

Example 13.7. clearAssign()

<?php// clear a single variable$smarty->clearAssign('Name');

// clears multiple variables$smarty->clearAssign(array('Name', 'Address', 'Zip'));?>

See also clearAllAssign(), clearConfig(), getTemplateVars(), assign() andappend()

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NameclearCache() — clears the cache for a specific template

Description void clearCache(string template, string cache_id, string compile_id, int expire_time);

• If you have multiple caches for a template, you can clear a specific cache by supplying the cache_idas the second parameter.

• You can also pass a $compile_id as a third parameter. You can group templates together so theycan be removed as a group, see the caching section for more information.

• As an optional fourth parameter, you can supply a minimum age in seconds the cache file must be beforeit will get cleared.

Example 13.8. clearCache()

<?php// clear the cache for a template$smarty->cache->clear('index.tpl');

// clear the cache for a particular cache id in an multiple-cache template$smarty->cache->clear('index.tpl', 'MY_CACHE_ID');?>

See also clearAllCache() and caching section.

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NameclearCompiledTemplate() — clears the compiled version of the specified template resource

Description void clearCompiledTemplate(string tpl_file, string compile_id, int exp_time);

This clears the compiled version of the specified template resource, or all compiled template files if one isnot specified. If you pass a $compile_id only the compiled template for this specific $compile_id iscleared. If you pass an exp_time, then only compiled templates older than exp_time seconds are cleared,by default all compiled templates are cleared regardless of their age. This function is for advanced useonly, not normally needed.

Example 13.9. clearCompiledTemplate()

<?php// clear a specific template resource$smarty->clearCompiledTemplate('index.tpl');

// clear entire compile directory$smarty->clearCompiledTemplate();?>

See also clearCache().

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NameclearConfig() — clears assigned config variables

Description void clearConfig(string var);

This clears all assigned config variables. If a variable name is supplied, only that variable is cleared.

Example 13.10. clearConfig()

<?php// clear all assigned config variables.$smarty->clearConfig();

// clear one variable$smarty->clearConfig('foobar');?>

See also getConfigVars(), config variables, config files, {config_load},configLoad() and clearAssign().

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NamecompileAllConfig() — compiles all known config files

Description string compileAllConfig(string extension, boolean force, integer timelimit, integer maxerror);

This function compiles config files found in the $config_dir folder. It uses the following parameters:

• extension is an optional string which defines the file extention for the config files. The default is".conf".

• force is an optional boolean which controls if only modified (false) or all (true) config files shall becompiled. The default is "false".

• timelimit is an optional integer to set a runtime limit in seconds for the compilation process. Thedefault is no limit.

• maxerror is an optional integer to set an error limit. If more config files failed to compile the functionwill be aborted. The default is no limit.

Note

This function may not create desired results in all configurations. Use is on own risk.

Example 13.11. compileAllTemplates()

<?phpinclude('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

// force compilation of all config files$smarty->compileAllConfig('.config',true);

?>

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NamecompileAllTemplates() — compiles all known templates

Description string compileAllTemplates(string extension, boolean force, integer timelimit, integer maxerror);

This function compiles template files found in the $template_dir folder. It uses the followingparameters:

• extension is an optional string which defines the file extention for the template files. The defaultis ".tpl".

• force is an optional boolean which controls if only modified (false) or all (true) templates shall becompiled. The default is "false".

• timelimit is an optional integer to set a runtime limit in seconds for the compilation process. Thedefault is no limit.

• maxerror is an optional integer to set an error limit. If more templates failed to compile the functionwill be aborted. The default is no limit.

Note

This function may not create desired results in all configurations. Use is on own risk.

Note

If any template requires registered plugins, filters or objects you must register all of them beforerunning this function.

Note

If you are using template inheritance this function will create compiled files of parent templateswhich will never be used.

Example 13.12. compileAllTemplates()

<?phpinclude('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

// force compilation of all template files$smarty->compileAllTemplates('.tpl',true);

?>

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NameconfigLoad() — loads config file data and assigns it to the template

Description void configLoad(string file, string section);

This loads config file data and assigns it to the template. This works identically to the template{config_load} function.

Technical Note

As of Smarty 2.4.0, assigned template variables are kept across invocations of fetch()and display(). Config vars loaded from configLoad() are always global in scope.Config files are also compiled for faster execution, and respect the $force_compile and$compile_check settings.

Example 13.13. configLoad()

<?php// load config variables and assign them$smarty->configLoad('my.conf');

// load a section$smarty->configLoad('my.conf', 'foobar');?>

See also {config_load}, getConfigVars(), clearConfig(), and config variables

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NamecreateData() — creates a data object

Description string createData(object parent);

string createData();

This creates a data object which will hold assigned variables. It uses the following parameters:

• parent is an optional parameter. It is an uplink to the main Smarty object, a another user-created dataobject or to user-created template object. These objects can be chained. Templates can access variablesassigned to any of the objects in it's parent chain.

Data objects are used to create scopes for assigned variables. They can be used to have controll whichvariables are seen by which templates.

Example 13.14. createData()

<?phpinclude('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

// create data object with its private variable scope$data = $smarty->createData();

// assign variable to data scope$data->assign('foo','bar');

// create template object which will use variables from data object$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl',$data);

// display the template$tpl->display();?>

See also display(), and createTemplate(),

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NamecreateTemplate() — returns a template object

Description

string createTemplate(string template, object parent);

string createTemplate(string template, array data);

string createTemplate(string template, string cache_id, string compile_id, object parent);

string createTemplate(string template, string cache_id, string compile_id, array data);

This creates a template object which later can be rendered by the display or fetch method. It uses thefollowing parameters:

• template must be a valid template resource type and path.

• cache_id is an optional parameter. You can also set the $cache_id variable once instead of passingthis to each call to this function. It is used in the event that you want to cache different content of thesame template, such as pages for displaying different products. See also the caching section for moreinformation.

• compile_id is an optional parameter. You can also set the $compile_id variable once insteadof passing this to each call to this function. It is used in the event that you want to compile differentversions of the same template, such as having separate templates compiled for different languages.

• parent is an optional parameter. It is an uplink to the main Smarty object, a user-created data objector to another user-created template object. These objects can be chained. The template can access onlyvariables assigned to any of the objects in the parent chain.

• data is an optional parameter. It is an associative array containing the name/value pairs of variableswhich get assigned to the object.

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Example 13.15. createTemplate()

<?phpinclude('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

// create template object with its private variable scope$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl');

// assign variable to template scope$tpl->assign('foo','bar');

// display the template$tpl->display();?>

See also display(), and templateExists().

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NamedisableSecurity() — disables template security

Description string disableSecurity();

This disables securty checking on templates.

See also enableSecurity(), and Security.

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Namedisplay() — displays the template

Description

void display(string template, string cache_id, string compile_id);

This displays the template unlike fetch(). Supply a valid template resource type and path. As an optionalsecond parameter, you can pass a $cache id, see the caching section for more information.

As an optional third parameter, you can pass a $compile_id. This is in the event that you want tocompile different versions of the same template, such as having separate templates compiled for differentlanguages. Another use for $compile_id is when you use more than one $template_dir but onlyone $compile_dir. Set a separate $compile_id for each $template_dir, otherwise templatesof the same name will overwrite each other. You can also set the $compile_id variable once insteadof passing this to each call to this function.

Example 13.16. display()

<?phpinclude(SMARTY_DIR.'Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty();$smarty->setCaching(true);

// only do db calls if cache doesn't existif(!$smarty->isCached('index.tpl')) {

// dummy up some data $address = '245 N 50th'; $db_data = array( 'City' => 'Lincoln', 'State' => 'Nebraska', 'Zip' => '68502' );

$smarty->assign('Name', 'Fred'); $smarty->assign('Address', $address); $smarty->assign('data', $db_data);

}

// display the output$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

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Example 13.17. Other display() template resource examples

Use the syntax for template resources to display files outside of the $template_dir directory.

<?php// absolute filepath$smarty->display('/usr/local/include/templates/header.tpl');

// absolute filepath (same thing)$smarty->display('file:/usr/local/include/templates/header.tpl');

// windows absolute filepath (MUST use "file:" prefix)$smarty->display('file:C:/www/pub/templates/header.tpl');

// include from template resource named "db"$smarty->display('db:header.tpl');?>

See also fetch() and templateExists().

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NameenableSecurity() — enables template security

Description string enableSecurity(string securityclass);

string enableSecurity(object securityobject);

string enableSecurity();

This enables securty checking on templates. It uses the following parameters:

• securityclass is an optional parameter. It's the name of the class with defines the security policyparameters.

• securityobject is an optional parameter. It's the object with defines the security policy parameters.

For the details how to setup a security policy see the Security section.

See also disableSecurity(), and Security.

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Namefetch() — returns the template output

Description string fetch(string template, string cache_id, string $compile_id);

This returns the template output instead of displaying it. Supply a valid template resource type and path. Asan optional second parameter, you can pass a $cache id, see the caching section for more information.

As an optional third parameter, you can pass a $compile_id. This is in the event that you want tocompile different versions of the same template, such as having separate templates compiled for differentlanguages. Another use for $compile_id is when you use more than one $template_dir but onlyone $compile_dir. Set a separate $compile_id for each $template_dir, otherwise templatesof the same name will overwrite each other. You can also set the $compile_id variable once insteadof passing this to each call to this function.

Example 13.18. fetch()

<?phpinclude('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->setCaching(true);

// only do db calls if cache doesn't existif(!$smarty->isCached('index.tpl')) {

// dummy up some data $address = '245 N 50th'; $db_data = array( 'City' => 'Lincoln', 'State' => 'Nebraska', 'Zip' => '68502' );

$smarty->assign('Name','Fred'); $smarty->assign('Address',$address); $smarty->assign($db_data);

}

// capture the output$output = $smarty->fetch('index.tpl');

// do something with $output hereecho $output;?>

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Example 13.19. Using fetch() to send an email

The email_body.tpl template

Dear {$contact.name},

Welcome and thankyou for signing up as a member of our user group,

Click on the link below to login with your user name of '{$contact.login_id}'so you can post in our forums.

http://{$smarty.server.SERVER_NAME}/login/

List masterSome user group

{include file='email_disclaimer.tpl'}

The email_disclaimer.tpl template which uses the {textformat} modifier.

{textformat wrap=40}Unless you are named "{$contact.name}", you may read only the "odd numberedwords" (every other word beginning with the first) of the message above. If you haveviolated that, then you hereby owe the sender 10 GBP for each evennumbered word you have read{/textformat}

The php script using the PHP mail() [http://php.net/function.mail] function

<?php

// get contact from database eg using pear or adodb$query = 'select name, email, login_id from contacts where contact_id='.$contact_id;$contact = $db->getRow($sql);$smarty->assign('contact', $contact);

mail($contact['email'], 'Subject', $smarty->fetch('email_body.tpl'));

?>

See also {fetch} display(), {eval}, and templateExists().

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NamegetConfigVars() — returns the given loaded config variable value

Description array getConfigVars(string varname);

If no parameter is given, an array of all loaded config variables is returned.

Example 13.20. getConfigVars()

<?php

// get loaded config template var #foo#$myVar = $smarty->getConfigVars('foo');

// get all loaded config template vars$all_config_vars = $smarty->getConfigVars();

// take a look at themprint_r($all_config_vars);?>

See also clearConfig(), {config_load}, configLoad() and getTemplateVars().

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NamegetRegisteredObject() — returns a reference to a registered object

Description array getRegisteredObject(string object_name);

This is useful from within a custom function when you need direct access to a registered object. See theobjects page for more info.

Example 13.21. getRegisteredObject()

<?phpfunction smarty_block_foo($params, $smarty){ if (isset($params['object'])) { // get reference to registered object $obj_ref = $smarty->getRegisteredObject($params['object']); // use $obj_ref is now a reference to the object }}?>

See also registerObject(), unregisterObject() and objects page

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NamegetTags() — return tags used by template

Description string getTags(object template);

This function returns an array of tagname/attribute pairs for all tags used by the template. It uses thefollowing parameters:

• template is the template object.

Note

This function is experimental.

Example 13.22. getTags()

<?phpinclude('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

// create template object$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl');

// get tags$tags = $smarty->getTags($tpl);

print_r($tags);

?>

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NamegetTemplateVars() — returns assigned variable value(s)

Description array getTemplateVars(string varname);

If no parameter is given, an array of all assigned variables are returned.

Example 13.23. getTemplateVars

<?php// get assigned template var 'foo'$myVar = $smarty->getTemplateVars('foo');

// get all assigned template vars$all_tpl_vars = $smarty->getTemplateVars();

// take a look at themprint_r($all_tpl_vars);?>

See also assign(), {assign}, append(), clearAssign(), clearAllAssign() andgetConfigVars()

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NameisCached() — returns true if there is a valid cache for this template

Description

bool isCached(string template, string cache_id, string compile_id);

• This only works if $caching is set to TRUE, see the caching section for more info.

• You can also pass a $cache_id as an optional second parameter in case you want multiple cachesfor the given template.

• You can supply a $compile id as an optional third parameter. If you omit that parameter thepersistent $compile_id is used if its set.

• If you do not want to pass a $cache_id but want to pass a $compile_id you have to pass NULLas a $cache_id.

Technical Note

If isCached() returns TRUE it actually loads the cached output and stores it internally. Anysubsequent call to display() or fetch() will return this internally stored output and doesnot try to reload the cache file. This prevents a race condition that may occur when a secondprocess clears the cache between the calls to isCached() and to display() in the exampleabove. This also means calls to clearCache() and other changes of the cache-settings mayhave no effect after isCached() returned TRUE.

Example 13.24. isCached()

<?php$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

if(!$smarty->is_cached('index.tpl')) {// do database calls, assign vars here}

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

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Example 13.25. isCached() with multiple-cache template

<?php$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

if(!$smarty->is_cached('index.tpl', 'FrontPage')) { // do database calls, assign vars here}

$smarty->display('index.tpl', 'FrontPage');?>

See also clearCache(), clearAllCache(), and caching section.

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NameloadFilter() — load a filter plugin

Description void loadFilter(string type, string name);

The first argument specifies the type of the filter to load and can be one of the following: pre, post oroutput. The second argument specifies the name of the filter plugin.

Example 13.26. Loading filter plugins

<?php

// load prefilter named 'trim'$smarty->loadFilter('pre', 'trim');

// load another prefilter named 'datefooter'$smarty->loadFilter('pre', 'datefooter');

// load output filter named 'compress'$smarty->loadFilter('output', 'compress');

?>

See also registerFilter(), $autoload_filters and advanced features.

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NameregisterFilter() — dynamically register filters

Description void registerFilter(string type, mixed callback);

Use this to dynamically register filters to operate on a templates. It uses the following parameters:

• type defines the type of the filter. Valid values are "pre", "post", "output" and "variable".

• callback defines the PHP callback. it can be either:

• A string containing the function name

• An array of the form array(&$object, $method) with &$object being a reference to anobject and $method being a string containing the method-name

• An array of the form array($class, $method) with $class being the class name and$method being a method of the class.

Technical Note

If the chosen function callback is of the form array(&$object, $method), only oneinstance of the same class and with the same $method can be registered. The latest registeredfunction callback will be used in such a scenario.

A prefilter runs through the template source before it gets compiled. See template prefilters for moreinformation on how to setup a prefiltering function.

A postfilter runs through the template code after it was compiled to PHP. See template postfilters for moreinformation on how to setup a postfiltering function.

A outputfilter operates on a template's output before it is displayed. See template output filters for moreinformation on how to set up an output filter function.

See also unregisterFilter(), loadFilter(), $autoload_filters, template pre filterstemplate post filters template output filters section.

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NameregisterPlugin() — dynamically register plugins

Description

void registerPlugin(string type, string name, mixed callback, bool cacheable, mixed cache_attrs);

This method registers functions or methods defined in your script as plugin. It uses the followingparameters:

• type defines the type of the plugin. Valid values are "function", "block", "compiler" and "modifier".

• name defines the name of the plugin.

• callback defines the PHP callback. it can be either:

• A string containing the function name

• An array of the form array(&$object, $method) with &$object being a reference to anobject and $method being a string containing the method-name

• An array of the form array($class, $method) with $class being the class name and$method being a method of the class.

• cacheable and cache_attrs can be omitted in most cases. See controlling cacheability of pluginsoutput on how to use them properly.

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Example 13.27. register a function plugin

<?php$smarty->registerPlugin("function","date_now", "print_current_date");

function print_current_date($params, $smarty){ if(empty($params["format"])) { $format = "%b %e, %Y"; } else { $format = $params["format"]; } return strftime($format,time());}?>

And in the template

{date_now}

{* or to format differently *}{date_now format="%Y/%m/%d"}

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Example 13.28. register block function plugin

<?php// function declarationfunction do_translation ($params, $content, $smarty, &$repeat, $template){ if (isset($content)) { $lang = $params["lang"]; // do some translation with $content return $translation; }}

// register with smarty$smarty->registerPlugin("block","translate", "do_translation");?>

Where the template is:

{translate lang="br"}Hello, world!{/translate}

Example 13.29. register modifier plugin

<?php

// let's map PHP's stripslashes function to a Smarty modifier.$smarty->registerPlugin("modifier","ss", "stripslashes");

?>

In the template, use ss to strip slashes.

<?php{$var|ss}?>

See also unregisterPlugin(), plugin functions, plugin block functions, plugin compiler functions,and the creating plugin modifiers section.

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NameregisterObject() — register an object for use in the templates

Description void registerObject(string object_name, object object, array allowed_methods_properties, boolean format, array block_methods);

Note

When you register/assign objects to templates, be sure that all properties and methods accessedfrom the template are for presentation purposes only. It is very easy to inject application logicthrough objects, and this leads to poor designs that are difficult to manage. See the Best Practicessection of the Smarty website.

See the objects section for more information.

See also getRegisteredObject(), and unregisterObject().

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NameregisterResource() — dynamically register resources

Description void registerResource(string name, array resource_funcs);

Use this to dynamically register a resource plugin with Smarty. Pass in the name of the resource and thearray of PHP functions implementing it. See template resources for more information on how to setup afunction for fetching templates.

Technical Note

A resource name must be at least two characters in length. One character resource names willbe ignored and used as part of the file path, such as $smarty->display('c:/path/to/index.tpl');

• The php-function-array resource_funcs must have 4 or 5 elements.

• With 4 elements the elements are the functions-callbacks for the respective source, timestamp,secure and trusted functions of the resource.

• With 5 elements the first element has to be an object reference or a class name of the object or classimplementing the resource and the 4 following elements have to be the method names implementingsource, timestamp, secure and trusted.

Example 13.30. registerResource()

<?php$smarty->register->resource('db', array( 'db_get_template', 'db_get_timestamp', 'db_get_secure', 'db_get_trusted') );?>

See also unregisterResource() and the template resources section.

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NametemplateExists() — checks whether the specified template exists

Description bool templateExists(string template);

It can accept either a path to the template on the filesystem or a resource string specifying the template.

Example 13.31. templateExists()

This example uses $_GET['page'] to {include} a content template. If the template does not existthen an error page is displayed instead. First the page_container.tpl

<html><head><title>{$title}</title></head><body>{include file='page_top.tpl'}

{* include middle content page *}{include file=$content_template}

{include file='page_footer.tpl'}</body>

And the php script

<?php

// set the filename eg index.inc.tpl$mid_template = $_GET['page'].'.inc.tpl';

if( !$smarty->templateExists($mid_template) ){ $mid_template = 'page_not_found.tpl';}$smarty->assign('content_template', $mid_template);

$smarty->display('page_container.tpl');

?>

See also display(), fetch(), {include} and {insert}

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NameunregisterFilter() — dynamically unregister a filter

Description void unregisterFilter(string type, mixed callback);

Use this to dynamically unregister filters. It uses the following parameters:

• type defines the type of the filter. Valid values are "pre", "post", "output" and "variable".

• callback defines the PHP callback. it can be either:

• A string containing the function name

• An array of the form array(&$object, $method) with &$object being a reference to anobject and $method being a string containing the method-name

• An array of the form array($class, $method) with $class being the class name and$method being a method of the class.

See also registerFilter().

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NameunregisterPlugin — dynamically unregister plugins

Description void unregisterPlugin(string type, string name);

This method unregisters plugins which previously have been registered by registerPlugin(), It uses thefollowing parameters:

• type defines the type of the plugin. Valid values are "function", "block", "compiler" and "modifier".

• name defines the name of the plugin.

Example 13.32. unregister function plugin

<?php

// we don't want template designers to have access to function plugin "date_now" $smarty->unregisterPlugin("function","date_now");

?>

See also registerPlugin().

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NameunregisterObject() — dynamically unregister an object

Description void unregisterObject(string object_name);

See also registerObject() and objects section

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NameunregisterResource() — dynamically unregister a resource plugin

Description void unregisterResource(string name);

Pass in the name of the resource.

Example 13.33. unregisterResource()

<?php

$smarty->unregister_resource('db');

?>

See also registerResource() and template resources

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NametestInstall() — checks Smarty installation

Description void testInstall();

This function verifies that all required working folders of the Smarty installtion can be accessed. It doesoutput a corresponding protocoll.

Example 13.34. testInstall()

<?phprequire_once('Smarty.class.php');$smarty->testInstall();?>

218

Chapter 14. CachingCaching is used to speed up a call to display() or fetch() by saving its output to a file. If a cachedversion of the call is available, that is displayed instead of regenerating the output. Caching can speed thingsup tremendously, especially templates with longer computation times. Since the output of display()or fetch() is cached, one cache file could conceivably be made up of several template files, configfiles, etc.

Since templates are dynamic, it is important to be careful what you are caching and for how long. Forinstance, if you are displaying the front page of your website that does not change its content very often,it might work well to cache this page for an hour or more. On the other hand, if you are displaying a pagewith a timetable containing new information by the minute, it would not make sense to cache this page.

Setting Up CachingThe first thing to do is enable caching by setting $caching = 1 (or 2).

Example 14.1. Enabling caching

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

With caching enabled, the function call to display('index.tpl') will render the template as usual,but also saves a copy of its output to a file (a cached copy) in the $cache_dir. On the next call todisplay('index.tpl'), the cached copy will be used instead of rendering the template again.

Technical Note

The files in the $cache_dir are named similar to the template name. Although they end in the.php extention, they are not intended to be directly executable. Do not edit these files!

Each cached page has a limited lifetime determined by $cache_lifetime. The default value is 3600seconds ie an hour. After that time expires, the cache is regenerated. It is possible to give individual cachestheir own expiration time by setting $caching=2. See $cache_lifetime for more details.

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Example 14.2. Setting $cache_lifetime per cache

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_SAVED; // lifetime is per cache

// set the cache_lifetime for index.tpl to 5 minutes$smarty->cache_lifetime = 300;$smarty->display('index.tpl');

// set the cache_lifetime for home.tpl to 1 hour$smarty->cache_lifetime = 3600;$smarty->display('home.tpl');

// NOTE: the following $cache_lifetime setting will not work when $caching = 2.// The cache lifetime for home.tpl has already been set// to 1 hour, and will no longer respect the value of $cache_lifetime.// The home.tpl cache will still expire after 1 hour.$smarty->cache_lifetime = 30; // 30 seconds$smarty->display('home.tpl');?>

If $compile_check is enabled, every template file and config file that is involved with the cache file ischecked for modification. If any of the files have been modified since the cache was generated, the cache isimmediately regenerated. This is a slight overhead so for optimum performance, set $compile_checkto FALSE.

Example 14.3. Enabling $compile_check

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;$smarty->compile_check = true;

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

If $force_compile is enabled, the cache files will always be regenerated. This effectively turns offcaching. $force_compile is usually for debugging purposes only, a more efficient way of disablingcaching is to set $caching = 0.

The is_cached() function can be used to test if a template has a valid cache or not. If you have acached template that requires something like a database fetch, you can use this to skip that process.

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Example 14.4. Using is_cached()

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

if(!$smarty->is_cached('index.tpl')) { // No cache available, do variable assignments here. $contents = get_database_contents(); $smarty->assign($contents);}

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

You can keep parts of a page dynamic with the {insert} template function. Let's say the whole page canbe cached except for a banner that is displayed down the side of the page. By using the {insert} functionfor the banner, you can keep this element dynamic within the cached content. See the documentation on{insert} for more details and examples.

You can clear all the cache files with the clear_all_cache() function, or individual cache files andgroups with the clear_cache() function.

Example 14.5. Clearing the cache

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

// clear only cache for index.tpl$smarty->clear_cache('index.tpl');

// clear out all cache files$smarty->clear_all_cache();

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

Multiple Caches Per PageYou can have multiple cache files for a single call to display() or fetch(). Let's say that a call todisplay('index.tpl') may have several different output contents depending on some condition,

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and you want separate caches for each one. You can do this by passing a $cache_id as the secondparameter to the function call.

Example 14.6. Passing a $cache_id to display()

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

$my_cache_id = $_GET['article_id'];

$smarty->display('index.tpl', $my_cache_id);?>

Above, we are passing the variable $my_cache_id to display() as the $cache_id. For eachunique value of $my_cache_id, a separate cache will be generated for index.tpl. In this example,article_id was passed in the URL and is used as the $cache_id.

Technical Note

Be very cautious when passing values from a client (web browser) into Smarty or any PHPapplication. Although the above example of using the article_id from the URL looks handy, itcould have bad consequences. The $cache_id is used to create a directory on the file system,so if the user decided to pass an extremely large value for article_id, or write a script that sendsrandom article_id's at a rapid pace, this could possibly cause problems at the server level. Be sureto sanitize any data passed in before using it. In this instance, maybe you know the article_id hasa length of ten characters and is made up of alpha-numerics only, and must be a valid article_idin the database. Check for this!

Be sure to pass the same $cache_id as the second parameter to is_cached() and clear_cache().

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Example 14.7. Passing a cache_id to is_cached()

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

$my_cache_id = $_GET['article_id'];

if(!$smarty->is_cached('index.tpl',$my_cache_id)) { // No cache available, do variable assignments here. $contents = get_database_contents(); $smarty->assign($contents);}

$smarty->display('index.tpl',$my_cache_id);?>

You can clear all caches for a particular $cache_id by passing NULL as the first parameter toclear_cache().

Example 14.8. Clearing all caches for a particular $cache_id

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

// clear all caches with "sports" as the $cache_id$smarty->clear_cache(null,'sports');

$smarty->display('index.tpl','sports');?>

In this manner, you can “group” your caches together by giving them the same $cache_id.

Cache GroupsYou can do more elaborate grouping by setting up $cache_id groups. This is accomplished byseparating each sub-group with a vertical bar | in the $cache_id value. You can have as many sub-groups as you like.

• You can think of cache groups like a directory hierarchy. For instance, a cache group of 'a|b|c'could be thought of as the directory structure '/a/b/c/'.

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• clear_cache(null,'a|b|c') would be like removing the files '/a/b/c/*'.clear_cache(null,'a|b') would be like removing the files '/a/b/*'.

• If you specify a $compile_id such as clear_cache(null,'a|b','foo') it is treated as anappended cache group '/a/b/c/foo/'.

• If you specify a template name such as clear_cache('foo.tpl','a|b|c') then Smarty willattempt to remove '/a/b/c/foo.tpl'.

• You CANNOT remove a specified template name under multiple cache groups such as '/a/b/*/foo.tpl', the cache grouping works left-to-right ONLY. You will need to group your templates undera single cache group heirarchy to be able to clear them as a group.

Cache grouping should not be confused with your template directory heirarchy, the cache groupinghas no knowledge of how your templates are structured. So for example, if you have a templatestructure like themes/blue/index.tpl and you want to be able to clear all the cache files forthe “blue” theme, you will need to create a cache group structure that mimics your template filestructure, such as display('themes/blue/index.tpl','themes|blue'), then clear themwith clear_cache(null,'themes|blue').

Example 14.9. $cache_id groups

<?phprequire('Smarty.class.php');$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

// clear all caches with 'sports|basketball' as the first two cache_id groups$smarty->clear_cache(null,'sports|basketball');

// clear all caches with "sports" as the first cache_id group. This would// include "sports|basketball", or "sports|(anything)|(anything)|(anything)|..."$smarty->clear_cache(null,'sports');

// clear the foo.tpl cache file with "sports|basketball" as the cache_id$smarty->clear_cache('foo.tpl','sports|basketball');

$smarty->display('index.tpl','sports|basketball');?>

Controlling Cacheability of Plugins' OutputThe cacheability of plugins can be declared when registering them. The third parameter toregisterPlugin() is called $cacheable and defaults to TRUE.

When registering a plugin with $cacheable=false the plugin is called everytime the page isdisplayed, even if the page comes from the cache. The plugin function behaves a little like an {insert}function.

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In contrast to {insert} the attributes to the plugins are not cached by default. They can be declared tobe cached with the fourth parameter $cache_attrs. $cache_attrs is an array of attribute-namesthat should be cached, so the plugin-function get value as it was the time the page was written to cacheeverytime it is fetched from the cache.

Example 14.10. Preventing a plugin's output from being cached

<?php$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

function remaining_seconds($params, $smarty) { $remain = $params['endtime'] - time(); if($remain >= 0){ return $remain . ' second(s)'; }else{ return 'done'; }}

$smarty->registerPlugin('function','remaining', 'remaining_seconds', false, array('endtime'));

if (!$smarty->isCached('index.tpl')) { // fetch $obj from db and assign... $smarty->assignByRef('obj', $obj);}

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

where index.tpl is:

Time Remaining: {remaining endtime=$obj->endtime}

The number of seconds till the endtime of $obj is reached changes on each display of the page, even ifthe page is cached. Since the endtime attribute is cached the object only has to be pulled from the databasewhen page is written to the cache but not on subsequent requests of the page.

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Example 14.11. Preventing a whole passage of a template from being cached

index.php:

<?php$smarty->caching = Smarty::CACHING_LIFETIME_CURRENT;

function smarty_block_dynamic($param, $content, $smarty) { return $content;}$smarty->registerPlugin('block','dynamic', 'smarty_block_dynamic', false);

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

where index.tpl is:

Page created: {'0'|date_format:'%D %H:%M:%S'}

{dynamic}

Now is: {'0'|date_format:'%D %H:%M:%S'}

... do other stuff ...

{/dynamic}

When reloading the page you will notice that both dates differ. One is “dynamic” one is “static”. Youcan do everything between {dynamic}...{/dynamic} and be sure it will not be cached like the restof the page.

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Chapter 15. Advanced FeaturesSecurity

Security is good for situations when you have untrusted parties editing the templates eg via ftp, and youwant to reduce the risk of system security compromises through the template language.

The settings of the security policy are defined by properties of an instance of the Smarty_Security class.These are the possible settings:

• $php_handling determines how Smarty to handle PHP code embedded in templates. Possible valuesare:

• Smarty::PHP_PASSTHRU -> echo PHP tags as they are

• Smarty::PHP_QUOTE -> escape tags as entities

• Smarty::PHP_REMOVE -> remove php tags

• Smarty::PHP_ALLOW -> execute php tagsThe default value is Smarty::PHP_PASSTHRU.

If security is enabled the $php_handling setting of the Smarty object is not checked for security.

• $secure_dir is an array of template directories that are considered secure. $template_dirconcidered secure implicitly. The default is an empty array.

• $trusted_dir is an array of all directories that are considered trusted. Trusted directories are whereyou keep php scripts that are executed directly from the templates with {include_php}. The defaultis an empty array.

• $static_classes is an array of classes that are considered trusted. The default is an empty arraywhich allows access to all static classes. To disable access to all static classes set $static_classes = null.

• $php_functions is an array of PHP functions that are considered trusted and can be used fromwithin template. To disable access to all PHP functions set $php_functions = null. An empty array( $php_functions = array() ) will allow all PHP functions. The default is array('isset', 'empty', 'count','sizeof', 'in_array', 'is_array','time','nl2br').

• $php_modifiers is an array of PHP functions that are considered trusted and can be used fromwithin template as modifier. To disable access to all PHP modifier set $php_modifier = null. An emptyarray ( $php_modifier = array() ) will allow all PHP functions. The default is array('escape','count').

• $streams is an array of streams that are considered trusted and can be used from within template. Todisable access to all streams set $streams = null. An empty array ( $streams = array() ) will allow allstreams. The default is array('file').

• $allow_constants is a boolean flag which controls if constants can be accessed by the template.The default is "true".

• $allow_super_globals is a boolean flag which controls if the PHP super globals can be accessedby the template. The default is "true".

• $allow_php_tag is a boolean flag which controls if {php} and {include_php} tags can be used bythe template. The default is "false".

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If security is enabled, no private methods, functions or properties of static classes or assigned objects canbe accessed (beginningwith '_') by the template.

To customize the security policy settings you can extend the Smarty_Security class or create an instanceof it.

Example 15.1. Setting security policy by extending the Smarty_Security class

<?phprequire 'Smarty.class.php';

class My_Security_Policy extends Smarty_Security { // disable all PHP functions public $php_functions = null; // remove PHP tags public $php_handling = Smarty::PHP_REMOVE; // allow everthing as modifier public $modifiers = array();}$smarty = new Smarty;// enable security$smarty->enableSecurity('My_Security_Policy');?>

Example 15.2. Setting security policy by instance of the Smarty_Security class

<?phprequire 'Smarty.class.php';$smarty = new Smarty;$my_security_policy = new Smarty_Security;// disable all PHP functions$my_security_policy->php_functions = null;// remove PHP tags$my_security_policy->php_handling = Smarty::PHP_REMOVE;// allow everthing as modifier$my_security_policy->$modifiers = array();// enable security$smarty->enableSecurity($my_security_policy);?>

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Example 15.3. Enable security with the default settings

<?phprequire 'Smarty.class.php';$smarty = new Smarty;// enable default security$smarty->enableSecurity();?>

Note

Must security policy settings are only checked when the template gets compiled. For that reasionyou should delete all cached and compiled template files when you change your security settings.

Changing settings by templateNormally you configure the Smarty settings by modifying the Smarty class variables.Furthermore you can register plugins, filters etc. with Smarty functions. Modifications done to theSmarty object will be global for all templates.

However the Smarty class variables and functions can be accessed or called by induvidual template objects.Modification done to a template object will apply only for that template and its included subtemplates.

Example 15.4. changing Smarty settings by template

<?php$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl);$tpl->cache_lifetime = 600;//or$tpl->setCacheLifetime(600);$smarty->display($tpl);?>

Example 15.5. register plugins by template

<?php$tpl = $smarty->createTemplate('index.tpl);$tpl->registerPlugin('modifier','mymodifier');$smarty->display($tpl);?>

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Template InheritanceInheritance brings the concept of Object Oriented Programming to templates, allowing you to define one(or more) base templates that can be extended by child templates. Extending means that the child templatecan override all or some of the parent named block areas.

• The inheritance tree can be as big as you want (meaning you can extend a file that extends another onethat extends another one and so on..), but be aware that all files have to be checked for modificationsat runtime so the more inheritance the more overhead you add.

• The child templates can not define any content besides what's inside {block} tags they override,anything outside of {block} tags will be removed.

• The content of {block} tags from child and parent templates can be merged by theappend or prepend {block} tag option flags and {$smarty.block.parent} or{$smarty.block.child} placeholders.

• Template inheritance is a compile time process which does create a single compiled template file.Compared to corresponding solutions based on subtemplates included with the {include} tag it doeshave much better performance when redering.

• The child template does extend its parent defined with the {extends} tag, which must be the firstline in the child template. Instead of using the {extends} tags in the template files you can definethe whole template inheritance tree in the PHP script when you are calling fetch() or display()with the extends: template resource type. The later provides even more flexibillity.

Note

If you have a subtemplate which is included with {include} and it does contain {block}areas it does work only if the {include} itself is called from within a surrounding {block}.In the final parent template you may need a dummy {block} for it.

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Example 15.6. Template inheritance examplelayout.tpl (parent)

<html><head> <title>{block name=title}Default Page Title{/block}</title> <span style="color: blue">{block name=head}{/block}</span></head><body>{block name=body}{/block}</body></html>

myproject.tpl (child)

{extends file=layout.tpl}{block name=head} <link href="/css/mypage.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <script src="/js/mypage.js"></script>{/block}

myproject.tpl (grandchild)

{extends file=project.tpl}{block name=title}My Page Title{/block}{block name=head} <link href="/css/mypage.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <script src="/js/mypage.js"></script>{/block}{block name=body}My HTML Page Body goes here{/block}

To render the above use

$smarty->display('mypage.tpl');

The resulting output is

<html><head> <title>My Page Title</title> <link href="/css/mypage.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <script src="/js/mypage.js"></script></head><body>My HTML Page Body goes here</body></html>

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Example 15.7. Template inheritance by template resource extends:

Instead of using {extends} tags in the template files you can define the inheritance tree in your PHPscript by using the extends: resource type.

The code below will return same result as the example above.

<?php$smarty->display('extends:layout.tpl|myproject.tpl|mypage.tpl'); ?>

See also {block}, {extends} and extends: resource

StreamsStreams allow you to use PHP streams as a template resource or a variable resource. The syntax is muchthe same a traditional template resource names.

Smarty will first look for a registered template resource. If nothing is found, it will check if a PHP streamis available. If a stream is available, Smarty will use it to fetch the template.

Note

You can further define allowed streams with security enabled.

Example 15.8. Stream from PHP

Using a PHP stream for a template resource from the display() function.

$smarty->display('foo:bar.tpl');

Example 15.9. Stream from Template

Using a PHP stream for a template resource from within a template.

{include file="foo:bar.tpl"}

You can also use streams to call variables. {$foo:bar} will use the foo://bar stream to get the templatevariable.

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Example 15.10. Stream Variable

Using a PHP stream for a template variable resource from within a template.

{$foo:bar}

See also Template Resources

ObjectsSmarty allows access to PHP objects [http://php.net/object] through the templates.

Note

When you assign/register objects to templates, be sure that all properties and methods accessedfrom the template are for presentation purposes only. It is very easy to inject application logicthrough objects, and this leads to poor designs that are difficult to manage. See the Best Practicessection of the Smarty website.

There are two ways to access them.

• One way is to register objects to the template, then use access them via syntax similar to customfunctions.

• The other way is to assign() objects to the templates and access them much like any other assignedvariable.

The first method has a much nicer template syntax. It is also more secure, as a registered object canbe restricted to certain methods or properties. However, a registered object cannot be looped over orassigned in arrays of objects, etc. The method you choose will be determined by your needs, but use thefirst method whenever possible to keep template syntax to a minimum.

If security is enabled, no private methods or functions can be accessed (beginningwith '_'). If a methodand property of the same name exist, the method will be used.

You can restrict the methods and properties that can be accessed by listing them in an array as the thirdregistration parameter.

By default, parameters passed to objects through the templates are passed the same way custom functionsget them. An associative array is passed as the first parameter, and the smarty object as the second. If youwant the parameters passed one at a time for each argument like traditional object parameter passing, setthe fourth registration parameter to FALSE.

The optional fifth parameter has only effect with format being TRUE and contains a list of methods thatshould be treated as blocks. That means these methods have a closing tag in the template ({foobar->meth2}...{/foobar->meth2}) and the parameters to the methods have the same synopsis as theparameters for block-function-plugins: They get the four parameters $params, $content,&$smarty and &$repeat and they also behave like block-function-plugins.

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Example 15.11. Using a registered or assigned object

<?php// the object

class My_Object { function meth1($params, $smarty_obj) { return 'this is my meth1'; }}

$myobj = new My_Object;

// registering the object (will be by reference)$smarty->register_object('foobar',$myobj);

// if we want to restrict access to certain methods or properties, list them$smarty->register_object('foobar',$myobj,array('meth1','meth2','prop1'));

// if you want to use the traditional object parameter format, pass a boolean of false$smarty->register_object('foobar',$myobj,null,false);

// We can also assign objects. assign_by_ref when possible.$smarty->assign_by_ref('myobj', $myobj);

$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

And here's how to access your objects in index.tpl:

{* access our registered object *}{foobar->meth1 p1='foo' p2=$bar}

{* you can also assign the output *}{foobar->meth1 p1='foo' p2=$bar assign='output'}the output was {$output}

{* access our assigned object *}{$myobj->meth1('foo',$bar)}

See also register_object() and assign().

Static ClassesYou can directly access static classes. The syntax is the same as in PHP.

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Note

Direct access to PHP classes is not recommended. This ties the underlying application codestructure directly to the presentation, and also complicates template syntax. It is recommended toregister plugins which insulate templates from PHP classes/objects. Use at your own discretion.See the Best Practices section of the Smarty website.

Example 15.12. static class access syntax

{assign var=foo value=myclass::BAR} <--- class constant BAR

{assign var=foo value=myclass::method()} <--- method result

{assign var=foo value=myclass::method1()->method2} <--- method chaining

{assign var=foo value=myclass::$bar} <--- property bar of class myclass

{assign var=foo value=$bar::method} <--- using Smarty variable bar as class name

PrefiltersTemplate prefilters are PHP functions that your templates are ran through before they are compiled. Thisis good for preprocessing your templates to remove unwanted comments, keeping an eye on what peopleare putting in their templates, etc.

Prefilters can be either registered or loaded from the plugins directory by using loadFilter() functionor by setting the $autoload_filters variable.

Smarty will pass the template source code as the first argument, and expect the function to return theresulting template source code.

Example 15.13. Using a template prefilter

This will remove all the html comments in the template source.

<?php// put this in your applicationfunction remove_dw_comments($tpl_source, $smarty){ return preg_replace("/<!--#.*-->/U",'',$tpl_source);}

// register the prefilter$smarty->registerFilter('pre','remove_dw_comments');$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

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See also registerFilter(), postfilters and loadFilter().

PostfiltersTemplate postfilters are PHP functions that your templates are ran through after they are compiled.Postfilters can be either registered or loaded from the plugins directory by using the loadFilter()function or by setting the $autoload_filters variable. Smarty will pass the compiled template codeas the first argument, and expect the function to return the result of the processing.

Example 15.14. Using a template postfilter

<?php// put this in your applicationfunction add_header_comment($tpl_source, $smarty){ return "<?php echo \"<!-- Created by Smarty! -->\n\"; ?>\n".$tpl_source;}

// register the postfilter$smarty->registerFilter('post','add_header_comment');$smarty->display('index.tpl');?>

The postfilter above will make the compiled Smarty template index.tpl look like:

<!-- Created by Smarty! -->{* rest of template content... *}

See also registerFilter(), prefilters, outputfilters, and loadFilter().

Output FiltersWhen the template is invoked via display() or fetch(), its output can be sent through one or moreoutput filters. This differs from postfilters because postfilters operate on compiled templates beforethey are saved to the disk, whereas output filters operate on the template output when it is executed.

Output filters can be either registered or loaded from the plugins directory by using the loadFilter()method or by setting the $autoload_filters variable. Smarty will pass the template output as thefirst argument, and expect the function to return the result of the processing.

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Example 15.15. Using a template outputfilter

<?php// put this in your applicationfunction protect_email($tpl_output, $smarty){ $tpl_output = preg_replace('!(\S+)@([a-zA-Z0-9\.\-]+\.([a-zA-Z]{2,3}|[0-9]{1,3}))!', '$1%40$2', $tpl_output); return $tpl_output;}

// register the outputfilter$smarty->registerFilter("output","protect_email");$smarty->display("index.tpl');

// now any occurrence of an email address in the template output will have// a simple protection against spambots?>

See also registerFilter(), loadFilter(), $autoload_filters, postfilters and$plugins_dir.

Cache Handler FunctionAs an alternative to using the default file-based caching mechanism, you can specify a custom cachehandling function that will be used to read, write and clear cached files.

Create a function in your application that Smarty will use as a cache handler. Set the name of it in the$cache_handler_func class variable. Smarty will now use this to handle cached data.

• The first argument is the action, which will be one of read, write and clear.

• The second parameter is the Smarty object.

• The third parameter is the cached content. Upon a write, Smarty passes the cached content in theseparameters. Upon a read, Smarty expects your function to accept this parameter by reference andpopulate it with the cached data. Upon a clear, pass a dummy variable here since it is not used.

• The fourth parameter is the name of the template file, needed for read/write.

• The fifth parameter is the optional $cache_id.

• The sixth is the optional $compile_id.

• The seventh and last parameter $exp_time was added in Smarty-2.6.0.

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Example 15.16. Example using MySQL as a cache source

<?php/**************************************************example usage:

include('Smarty.class.php');include('mysql_cache_handler.php');

$smarty = new Smarty;$smarty->cache_handler_func = 'mysql_cache_handler';

$smarty->display('index.tpl');

mysql database is expected in this format:

create database SMARTY_CACHE;

create table CACHE_PAGES(CacheID char(32) PRIMARY KEY,CacheContents MEDIUMTEXT NOT NULL);

**************************************************/

function mysql_cache_handler($action, $smarty_obj, &$cache_content, $tpl_file=null, $cache_id=null, $compile_id=null, $exp_time=null){ // set db host, user and pass here $db_host = 'localhost'; $db_user = 'myuser'; $db_pass = 'mypass'; $db_name = 'SMARTY_CACHE'; $use_gzip = false;

// create unique cache id $CacheID = md5($tpl_file.$cache_id.$compile_id);

if(! $link = mysql_pconnect($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass)) { $smarty_obj->_triggerError_msg('cache_handler: could not connect to database'); return false; } mysql_select_db($db_name);

switch ($action) { case 'read': // read cache from database $results = mysql_query("select CacheContents from CACHE_PAGES where CacheID='$CacheID'"); if(!$results) { $smarty_obj->_triggerError_msg('cache_handler: query failed.'); } $row = mysql_fetch_array($results,MYSQL_ASSOC);

if($use_gzip && function_exists('gzuncompress')) { $cache_content = gzuncompress($row['CacheContents']); } else { $cache_content = $row['CacheContents']; } $return = $results; break; case 'write': // save cache to database

if($use_gzip && function_exists("gzcompress")) { // compress the contents for storage efficiency $contents = gzcompress($cache_content); } else { $contents = $cache_content; } $results = mysql_query("replace into CACHE_PAGES values( '$CacheID', '".addslashes($contents)."') "); if(!$results) { $smarty_obj->_triggerError_msg('cache_handler: query failed.'); } $return = $results; break; case 'clear': // clear cache info if(empty($cache_id) && empty($compile_id) && empty($tpl_file)) { // clear them all $results = mysql_query('delete from CACHE_PAGES'); } else { $results = mysql_query("delete from CACHE_PAGES where CacheID='$CacheID'"); } if(!$results) { $smarty_obj->_triggerError_msg('cache_handler: query failed.'); } $return = $results; break; default: // error, unknown action $smarty_obj->_triggerError_msg("cache_handler: unknown action \"$action\""); $return = false; break; } mysql_close($link); return $return;

}

?>

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ResourcesThe templates may come from a variety of sources. When you display() or fetch() a template,or when you include a template from within another template, you supply a resource type, followedby the appropriate path and template name. If a resource is not explicitly given, the value of$default_resource_type is assumed.

Templates from $template_dir

Templates from the $template_dir do not require a template resource, although you can use thefile: resource for consistancy. Just supply the path to the template you want to use relative to the$template_dir root directory (no leading slash.)

Example 15.17. Using templates from the $template_dir

<?php$smarty->display('index.tpl');$smarty->display('file:index.tpl'); // same as above?>

From within a Smarty template

{include file='index.tpl'}{include file='file:index.tpl'} {* same as above *}

Templates from any directory

Templates outside of the $template_dir require the file: template resource type, followed by theabsolute path to the template (with leading slash.)

Note

With security enabled, access to templates outside of the template_dir is not allowed.

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Example 15.18. Using templates from any directory

<?php$smarty->display('file:/export/templates/index.tpl');$smarty->display('file:/path/to/my/templates/menu.tpl');?>

And from within a Smarty template:

{include file='file:/usr/local/share/templates/navigation.tpl'}

Windows Filepaths

If you are using a Windows machine, filepaths usually include a drive letter (C:) at the beginning of thepathname. Be sure to use file: in the path to avoid namespace conflicts and get the desired results.

Example 15.19. Using templates from windows file paths

<?php$smarty->display('file:C:/export/templates/index.tpl');$smarty->display('file:F:/path/to/my/templates/menu.tpl');?>

And from within Smarty template:

{include file='file:D:/usr/local/share/templates/navigation.tpl'}

Templates from stringsSmarty can render templates from a string by using the string: or eval: resource.

• The string: resource behaves much the same as a template file. The template source is compiledfrom a string and stores the compiled template code for later reuse. Each unique template string willcreate a new compiled template file. If your template strings are accessed frequently, this is a goodchoice. If you have frequently changing template strings (or strings with low reuse value), the eval:resource may be a better choice.

• The eval: resource evaluates the template source every time a page is rendered. This is a good choicefor strings with low reuse value. If the same string is accessed frequently, the string: resource maybe a better choice.

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Note

With a string: resource type, each unique string generates a compiled file. Smarty cannotdetect a string that has changed, and therefore will generate a new compiled file for each uniquestring. It is important to choose the correct resource so that you do not fill your disk space withwasted compiled strings.

Example 15.20. Using templates from strings

<?php$smarty->assign('foo','value');$template_string = 'display {$foo} here';$smarty->display('string:'.$template_string); // compiles for later reuse$smarty->display('eval:'.$template_string); // compiles every time?>

From within a Smarty template

{include file="string:$template_string"} {* compiles for later reuse *}{include file="eval:$template_string"} {* compiles every time *}

Template inheritance defined by PHP scriptThe extends: resource is used to define child/parent relationships for template inheritance from thePHP script. For details see section of Template Interitance.

Example 15.21. Using template inheritance from the PHP script

<?php$smarty->display('extends:parent.tpl|child.tpl|grandchild.tpl'); ?>

Note

Use this when inheritance is required programatically. When inheriting within PHP, it is notobvious from the child template what inheritance took place. If you have a choice, it is normallymore flexible and intuitive to handle inheritance chains from within the templates.

Templates from other sourcesYou can retrieve templates using whatever possible source you can access with PHP: databases, sockets,files, etc. You do this by writing resource plugin functions and registering them with Smarty.

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See resource plugins section for more information on the functions you are supposed to provide.

Note

Note that you cannot override the built-in file: resource, but you can provide a resource thatfetches templates from the file system in some other way by registering under another resourcename.

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Example 15.22. Using custom resources

<?php// put these function somewhere in your applicationfunction db_get_template ($tpl_name, &$tpl_source, $smarty_obj){ // do database call here to fetch your template, // populating $tpl_source with actual template contents $tpl_source = "This is the template text"; // return true on success, false to generate failure notification return true;}

function db_get_timestamp($tpl_name, &$tpl_timestamp, $smarty_obj){ // do database call here to populate $tpl_timestamp // with unix epoch time value of last template modification. // This is used to determine if recompile is necessary. $tpl_timestamp = time(); // this example will always recompile! // return true on success, false to generate failure notification return true;}

function db_get_secure($tpl_name, $smarty_obj){ // assume all templates are secure return true;}

function db_get_trusted($tpl_name, $smarty_obj){ // not used for templates}

// register the resource name "db"$smarty->register_resource("db", array("db_get_template", "db_get_timestamp", "db_get_secure", "db_get_trusted"));

// using resource from php script$smarty->display("db:index.tpl");?>

And from within Smarty template:

{include file='db:/extras/navigation.tpl'}

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Default template handler functionYou can specify a function that is used to retrieve template contents in the event the template cannot beretrieved from its resource. One use of this is to create templates that do not exist on-the-fly.

Example 15.23. Using the default template handler function

<?php// put this function somewhere in your application

function make_template ($resource_type, $resource_name, &$template_source, &$template_timestamp,$smarty_obj){ if( $resource_type == 'file' ) { if ( ! is_readable ( $resource_name )) { // create the template file, return contents. $template_source = "This is a new template."; require_once SMARTY_CORE_DIR . 'core.write_file.php'; smarty_core_write_file( array( 'filename'=>$smarty_obj->template_dir . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $resource_name, 'contents'=>$template_source ), $smarty_obj ); return true; } } else { // not a file return false; }}

// set the default handler$smarty->default_template_handler_func = 'make_template';?>

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Chapter 16. Extending Smarty WithPlugins

Version 2.0 introduced the plugin architecture that is used for almost all the customizable functionalityof Smarty. This includes:

• functions• modifiers• block functions• compiler functions• prefilters• postfilters• outputfilters• resources• inserts

With the exception of resources, backwards compatibility with the old way of registering handler functionsvia register_* API is preserved. If you did not use the API but instead modified the class variables$custom_funcs, $custom_mods, and other ones directly, then you will need to adjust your scriptsto either use the API or convert your custom functionality into plugins.

How Plugins WorkPlugins are always loaded on demand. Only the specific modifiers, functions, resources, etc invoked inthe templates scripts will be loaded. Moreover, each plugin is loaded only once, even if you have severaldifferent instances of Smarty running within the same request.

Pre/postfilters and output filters are a bit of a special case. Since they are not mentioned in the templates,they must be registered or loaded explicitly via API functions before the template is processed. The orderin which multiple filters of the same type are executed depends on the order in which they are registeredor loaded.

The plugins directory can be a string containing a path or an array containing multiple paths. To install aplugin, simply place it in one of the directories and Smarty will use it automatically.

Naming ConventionsPlugin files and functions must follow a very specific naming convention in order to be located by Smarty.

plugin files must be named as follows:

type.name.php

• Where type is one of these plugin types:• function• modifier• block• compiler

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• prefilter• postfilter• outputfilter• resource• insert

• And name should be a valid identifier; letters, numbers, and underscores only, see php variables [http://php.net/language.variables].

• Some examples: function.html_select_date.php, resource.db.php,modifier.spacify.php.

plugin functions inside the PHP files must be named as follows:

smarty_type, _name

• The meanings of type and name are the same as above.

• An example modifier name foo would be function smarty_modifier_foo().

Smarty will output appropriate error messages if the plugin file it needs is not found, or if the file or theplugin function are named improperly.

Writing PluginsPlugins can be either loaded by Smarty automatically from the filesystem or they can be registered atruntime via one of the register_* API functions. They can also be unregistered by using unregister_* APIfunctions.

For the plugins that are registered at runtime, the name of the plugin function(s) does not have to followthe naming convention.

If a plugin depends on some functionality provided by another plugin (as is the case with some pluginsbundled with Smarty), then the proper way to load the needed plugin is this:

<?phprequire_once $smarty->_get_plugin_filepath('function', 'html_options');?>

As a general rule, Smarty object is always passed to the plugins as the last parameter with two exceptions:

• modifiers do not get passed the Smarty object at all

• blocks get passed $repeat after the Smarty object to keep backwards compatibility to older versionsof Smarty.

Template Functionsvoid smarty_function_name($params, &$smarty);

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array $params;object &$smarty;

All attributes passed to template functions from the template are contained in the $params as anassociative array.

The output (return value) of the function will be substituted in place of the function tag in the template,eg the {fetch} function. Alternatively, the function can simply perform some other task without anyoutput, eg the {assign} function.

If the function needs to assign some variables to the template or use some other Smarty-providedfunctionality, it can use the supplied $smarty object to do so eg $smarty->foo().

Example 16.1. function plugin with output

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: function.eightball.php * Type: function * Name: eightball * Purpose: outputs a random magic answer * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_function_eightball($params, $smarty){ $answers = array('Yes', 'No', 'No way', 'Outlook not so good', 'Ask again soon', 'Maybe in your reality');

$result = array_rand($answers); return $answers[$result];}?>

which can be used in the template as:

Question: Will we ever have time travel?Answer: {eightball}.

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Example 16.2. function plugin without output

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: function.assign.php * Type: function * Name: assign * Purpose: assign a value to a template variable * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_function_assign($params, $smarty){ if (empty($params['var'])) { $smarty->triggerError("assign: missing 'var' parameter"); return; }

if (!in_array('value', array_keys($params))) { $smarty->triggerError("assign: missing 'value' parameter"); return; }

$smarty->assign($params['var'], $params['value']);}?>

See also: registerPlugin(), unregisterPlugin().

ModifiersModifiers are little functions that are applied to a variable in the template before it is displayed or used insome other context. Modifiers can be chained together.

mixed smarty_modifier_name($value, $param1);

mixed $value;[mixed $param1, ...];

The first parameter to the modifier plugin is the value on which the modifier is to operate. The rest of theparameters are optional, depending on what kind of operation is to be performed.

The modifier has to return [http://php.net/return] the result of its processing.

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Example 16.3. A simple modifier plugin

This plugin basically aliases one of the built-in PHP functions. It does not have any additional parameters.

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: modifier.capitalize.php * Type: modifier * Name: capitalize * Purpose: capitalize words in the string * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_modifier_capitalize($string){ return ucwords($string);}?>

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Example 16.4. More complex modifier plugin

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: modifier.truncate.php * Type: modifier * Name: truncate * Purpose: Truncate a string to a certain length if necessary, * optionally splitting in the middle of a word, and * appending the $etc string. * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_modifier_truncate($string, $length = 80, $etc = '...', $break_words = false){ if ($length == 0) return '';

if (strlen($string) > $length) { $length -= strlen($etc); $fragment = substr($string, 0, $length+1); if ($break_words) $fragment = substr($fragment, 0, -1); else $fragment = preg_replace('/\s+(\S+)?$/', '', $fragment); return $fragment.$etc; } else return $string;}?>

See also registerPlugin(), unregisterPlugin().

Block Functionsvoid smarty_block_name($params, $content, &$smarty, &$repeat);

array $params;mixed $content;object &$smarty;boolean &$repeat;

Block functions are functions of the form: {func} .. {/func}. In other words, they enclose a templateblock and operate on the contents of this block. Block functions take precedence over custom functionsof the same name, that is, you cannot have both custom function {func} and block function {func}..{/func}.

• By default your function implementation is called twice by Smarty: once for the opening tag, and oncefor the closing tag. (See $repeat below on how to change this.)

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• Only the opening tag of the block function may have attributes. All attributes passed to templatefunctions from the template are contained in the $params variable as an associative array. The openingtag attributes are also accessible to your function when processing the closing tag.

• The value of the $content variable depends on whether your function is called for the opening orclosing tag. In case of the opening tag, it will be NULL, and in case of the closing tag it will be thecontents of the template block. Note that the template block will have already been processed by Smarty,so all you will receive is the template output, not the template source.

• The parameter $repeat is passed by reference to the function implementation and provides apossibility for it to control how many times the block is displayed. By default $repeat is TRUE at thefirst call of the block-function (the opening tag) and FALSE on all subsequent calls to the block function(the block's closing tag). Each time the function implementation returns with $repeat being TRUE,the contents between {func}...{/func} are evaluated and the function implementation is calledagain with the new block contents in the parameter $content.

If you have nested block functions, it's possible to find out what the parent block function is by accessing$smarty->_tag_stack variable. Just do a var_dump() [http://php.net/var_dump] on it and thestructure should be apparent.

Example 16.5. block function

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: block.translate.php * Type: block * Name: translate * Purpose: translate a block of text * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_block_translate($params, $content, $smarty, &$repeat){ // only output on the closing tag if(!$repeat){ if (isset($content)) { $lang = $params['lang']; // do some intelligent translation thing here with $content return $translation; } }}?>

See also: registerPlugin(), unregisterPlugin().

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Compiler FunctionsCompiler functions are called only during compilation of the template. They are useful for injecting PHPcode or time-sensitive static content into the template. If there is both a compiler function and a customfunction registered under the same name, the compiler function has precedence.

mixed smarty_compiler_name($tag_arg, &$smarty);

string $tag_arg;object &$smarty;

The compiler function is passed two parameters: the tag argument string - basically, everything from thefunction name until the ending delimiter, and the Smarty object. It's supposed to return the PHP code tobe injected into the compiled template.

Example 16.6. A simple compiler function

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: compiler.tplheader.php * Type: compiler * Name: tplheader * Purpose: Output header containing the source file name and * the time it was compiled. * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_compiler_tplheader($tag_arg, $smarty){ return "\necho '" . $smarty->_current_file . " compiled at " . date('Y-m-d H:M'). "';";}?>

This function can be called from the template as:

{* this function gets executed at compile time only *}{tplheader}

The resulting PHP code in the compiled template would be something like this:

<?phpecho 'index.tpl compiled at 2002-02-20 20:02';?>

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See also registerPlugin(), unregisterPlugin().

Prefilters/PostfiltersPrefilter and postfilter plugins are very similar in concept; where they differ is in the execution -- moreprecisely the time of their execution.

string smarty_prefilter_name($source, &$smarty);

string $source;object &$smarty;

Prefilters are used to process the source of the template immediately before compilation. The firstparameter to the prefilter function is the template source, possibly modified by some other prefilters. Theplugin is supposed to return the modified source. Note that this source is not saved anywhere, it is onlyused for compilation.

string smarty_postfilter_name($compiled, &$smarty);

string $compiled;object &$smarty;

Postfilters are used to process the compiled output of the template (the PHP code) immediately after thecompilation is done but before the compiled template is saved to the filesystem. The first parameter tothe postfilter function is the compiled template code, possibly modified by other postfilters. The plugin issupposed to return the modified version of this code.

Example 16.7. prefilter plugin

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: prefilter.pre01.php * Type: prefilter * Name: pre01 * Purpose: Convert html tags to be lowercase. * ------------------------------------------------------------- */ function smarty_prefilter_pre01($source, $smarty) { return preg_replace('!<(\w+)[^>]+>!e', 'strtolower("$1")', $source); }?>

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Example 16.8. postfilter plugin

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: postfilter.post01.php * Type: postfilter * Name: post01 * Purpose: Output code that lists all current template vars. * ------------------------------------------------------------- */ function smarty_postfilter_post01($compiled, $smarty) { $compiled = "<pre>\n<?php print_r(\$this->getTemplateVars()); ?>\n</pre>" . $compiled; return $compiled; }?>

See also registerFilter() and unregisterFilter().

Output FiltersOutput filter plugins operate on a template's output, after the template is loaded and executed, but beforethe output is displayed.

string smarty_outputfilter_name($template_output, &$smarty);

string $template_output;object &$smarty;

The first parameter to the output filter function is the template output that needs to be processed, andthe second parameter is the instance of Smarty invoking the plugin. The plugin is supposed to do theprocessing and return the results.

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Example 16.9. An output filter plugin

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: outputfilter.protect_email.php * Type: outputfilter * Name: protect_email * Purpose: Converts @ sign in email addresses to %40 as * a simple protection against spambots * ------------------------------------------------------------- */ function smarty_outputfilter_protect_email($output, $smarty) { return preg_replace('!(\S+)@([a-zA-Z0-9\.\-]+\.([a-zA-Z]{2,3}|[0-9]{1,3}))!', '$1%40$2', $output); }?>

See also registerFilter(), unregisterFilter().

ResourcesResource plugins are meant as a generic way of providing template sources or PHP script components toSmarty. Some examples of resources: databases, LDAP, shared memory, sockets, and so on.

There are a total of four functions that need to be registered for each type of resource. Every function willreceive the requested resource as the first parameter and the Smarty object as the last parameter. The restof parameters depend on the function.

bool smarty_resource_name_source($rsrc_name, &$source, &$smarty);

string $rsrc_name;string &$source;object &$smarty;

bool smarty_resource_name_timestamp($rsrc_name, &$timestamp, &$smarty);

string $rsrc_name;int &$timestamp;object &$smarty;

bool smarty_resource_name_secure($rsrc_name, &$smarty);

string $rsrc_name;object &$smarty;

bool smarty_resource_name_trusted($rsrc_name, &$smarty);

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string $rsrc_name;object &$smarty;

• The first function, source() is supposed to retrieve the resource. Its second parameter $source is avariable passed by reference where the result should be stored. The function is supposed to return TRUEif it was able to successfully retrieve the resource and FALSE otherwise.

• The second function, timestamp() is supposed to retrieve the last modification time of the requestedresource, as a UNIX timestamp. The second parameter $timestamp is a variable passed by referencewhere the timestamp should be stored. The function is supposed to return TRUE if the timestamp couldbe succesfully determined, or FALSE otherwise.

• The third function, secure()is supposed to return TRUE or FALSE, depending on whether therequested resource is secure or not. This function is used only for template resources but should stillbe defined.

• The fourth function, trusted() is supposed to return TRUE or FALSE, depending on whether therequested resource is trusted or not. This function is used for only for PHP script components requestedby {include_php} tag or {insert} tag with the src attribute. However, it should still be definedeven for template resources.

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Example 16.10. resource plugin

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: resource.db.php * Type: resource * Name: db * Purpose: Fetches templates from a database * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_resource_db_source($tpl_name, &$tpl_source, $smarty){ // do database call here to fetch your template, // populating $tpl_source with actual template contents $tpl_source = "This is the template text"; // return true on success, false to generate failure notification return true;}

function smarty_resource_db_timestamp($tpl_name, &$tpl_timestamp, $smarty){ // do database call here to populate $tpl_timestamp // with unix epoch time value of last template modification. // This is used to determine if recompile is necessary. $tpl_timestamp = time(); // this example will always recompile! // return true on success, false to generate failure notification return true;}

function smarty_resource_db_secure($tpl_name, $smarty){ // assume all templates are secure return true;}

function smarty_resource_db_trusted($tpl_name, $smarty){ // not used for templates}?>

See also register_resource(), unregister_resource().

InsertsInsert plugins are used to implement functions that are invoked by {insert} tags in the template.

string smarty_insert_name($params, &$smarty);

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array $params;object &$smarty;

The first parameter to the function is an associative array of attributes passed to the insert.

The insert function is supposed to return the result which will be substituted in place of the {insert}tag in the template.

Example 16.11. insert plugin

<?php/* * Smarty plugin * ------------------------------------------------------------- * File: insert.time.php * Type: time * Name: time * Purpose: Inserts current date/time according to format * ------------------------------------------------------------- */function smarty_insert_time($params, $smarty){ if (empty($params['format'])) { $smarty->triggerError("insert time: missing 'format' parameter"); return; } return strftime($params['format']);}?>

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Table of Contents17. Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................... 260

Smarty/PHP errors ................................................................................................... 26018. Tips & Tricks ........................................................................................................... 262

Blank Variable Handling .......................................................................................... 262Default Variable Handling ........................................................................................ 262Passing variable title to header template ...................................................................... 263Dates .................................................................................................................... 264WAP/WML ............................................................................................................ 265Componentized Templates ........................................................................................ 267Obfuscating E-mail Addresses ................................................................................... 268

19. Resources ................................................................................................................. 26920. BUGS ...................................................................................................................... 270

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Chapter 17. Troubleshooting

Smarty/PHP errorsSmarty can catch many errors such as missing tag attributes or malformed variable names. If this happens,you will see an error similar to the following:

Example 17.1. Smarty errors

Warning: Smarty: [in index.tpl line 4]: syntax error: unknown tag - '%blah' in /path/to/smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1041

Fatal error: Smarty: [in index.tpl line 28]: syntax error: missing section name in /path/to/smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1041

Smarty shows you the template name, the line number and the error. After that, the error consists of theactual line number in the Smarty class that the error occured.

There are certain errors that Smarty cannot catch, such as missing close tags. These types of errors usuallyend up in PHP compile-time parsing errors.

Example 17.2. PHP parsing errors

Parse error: parse error in /path/to/smarty/templates_c/index.tpl.php on line 75

When you encounter a PHP parsing error, the error line number will correspond to the compiled PHPscript, NOT the template itself. Usually you can look at the template and spot the syntax error. Here aresome common things to look for: missing close tags for {if}{/if} or {section}{/section} , orsyntax of logic within an {if} tag. If you can't find the error, you might have to open the compiled PHPfile and go to the line number to figure out where the corresponding error is in the template.

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Example 17.3. Other common errors

Warning: Smarty error: unable to read resource: "index.tpl" in...orWarning: Smarty error: unable to read resource: "site.conf" in...

• The $template_dir is incorrect, doesn't exist or the file index.tpl is not in the templates/directory

• A {config_load} function is within a template (or config_load() has been called) and either$config_dir is incorrect, does not exist or site.conf is not in the directory.

Fatal error: Smarty error: the $compile_dir 'templates_c' does not exist,or is not a directory...

• Either the $compile_diris incorrectly set, the directory does not exist, or templates_c is a fileand not a directory.

Fatal error: Smarty error: unable to write to $compile_dir '....

• The $compile_dir is not writable by the web server. See the bottom of the installing smarty pagefor more about permissions.

Fatal error: Smarty error: the $cache_dir 'cache' does not exist,or is not a directory. in /..

• This means that $caching is enabled and either; the $cache_dir is incorrectly set, the directorydoes not exist, or cache/ is a file and not a directory.

Fatal error: Smarty error: unable to write to $cache_dir '/...

• This means that $caching is enabled and the $cache_dir is not writable by the web server. Seethe bottom of the installing smarty page for permissions.

See also debugging.

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Chapter 18. Tips & Tricks

Blank Variable HandlingThere may be times when you want to print a default value for an empty variable instead of printingnothing, such as printing &nbsp; so that html table backgrounds work properly. Many would use an {if}statement to handle this, but there is a shorthand way with Smarty, using the default variable modifier.

Note

“Undefined variable” errors will show if PHP xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and avariable had not been assigned to Smarty.

Example 18.1. Printing &nbsp; when a variable is empty

{* the long way *}{if $title eq ''} &nbsp;{else} {$title}{/if}

{* the short way *}{$title|default:'&nbsp;'}

See also default modifier and default variable handling.

Default Variable HandlingIf a variable is used frequently throughout your templates, applying the default modifier every timeit is mentioned can get a bit ugly. You can remedy this by assigning the variable its default value withthe {assign} function.

Example 18.2. Assigning a template variable its default value

{* do this somewhere at the top of your template *}{assign var='title' value=$title|default:'no title'}

{* if $title was empty, it now contains the value "no title" when you use it *}{$title}

See also default modifier and blank variable handling.

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Passing variable title to header templateWhen the majority of your templates use the same headers and footers, it is common to split those outinto their own templates and {include} them. But what if the header needs to have a different title,depending on what page you are coming from? You can pass the title to the header as an attribute whenit is included.

Example 18.3. Passing the title variable to the header template

mainpage.tpl - When the main page is drawn, the title of “Main Page” is passed to the header.tpl,and will subsequently be used as the title.

{include file='header.tpl' title='Main Page'}{* template body goes here *}{include file='footer.tpl'}

archives.tpl - When the archives page is drawn, the title will be “Archives”. Notice in the archiveexample, we are using a variable from the archives_page.conf file instead of a hard coded variable.

{config_load file='archive_page.conf'}

{include file='header.tpl' title=#archivePageTitle#}{* template body goes here *}{include file='footer.tpl'}

header.tpl - Notice that “Smarty News” is printed if the $title variable is not set, using thedefault variable modifier.

<html><head><title>{$title|default:'Smarty News'}</title></head><body>

footer.tpl

</body></html>

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DatesAs a rule of thumb, always pass dates to Smarty as timestamps [http://php.net/time]. This allows templatedesigners to use the date_format modifier for full control over date formatting, and also makes it easyto compare dates if necessary.

Example 18.4. Using date_format

{$startDate|date_format}

This will output:

Jan 4, 2009

{$startDate|date_format:"%Y/%m/%d"}

This will output:

2009/01/04

Dates can be compared in the template by timestamps with:

{if $order_date < $invoice_date} ...do something..{/if}

When using {html_select_date} in a template, the programmer will most likely want to convertthe output from the form back into timestamp format. Here is a function to help you with that.

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Example 18.5. Converting form date elements back to a timestamp

<?php

// this assumes your form elements are named// startDate_Day, startDate_Month, startDate_Year

$startDate = makeTimeStamp($startDate_Year, $startDate_Month, $startDate_Day);

function makeTimeStamp($year='', $month='', $day=''){ if(empty($year)) { $year = strftime('%Y'); } if(empty($month)) { $month = strftime('%m'); } if(empty($day)) { $day = strftime('%d'); }

return mktime(0, 0, 0, $month, $day, $year);}?>

See also {html_select_date}, {html_select_time}, date_format and $smarty.now,

WAP/WMLWAP/WML templates require a php Content-Type header [http://php.net/header] to be passed along withthe template. The easist way to do this would be to write a custom function that prints the header. If you areusing caching, that won't work so we'll do it using the {insert} tag; remember {insert} tags are notcached! Be sure that there is nothing output to the browser before the template, or else the header may fail.

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Example 18.6. Using {insert} to write a WML Content-Type header

<?php

// be sure apache is configure for the .wml extensions!// put this function somewhere in your application, or in Smarty.addons.phpfunction insert_header($params){ // this function expects $content argument if (empty($params['content'])) { return; } header($params['content']); return;}

?>

your Smarty template must begin with the insert tag :

{insert name=header content="Content-Type: text/vnd.wap.wml"}

<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD WML 1.1//EN" "http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml">

<!-- begin new wml deck --><wml> <!-- begin first card --> <card> <do type="accept"> <go href="#two"/> </do> <p> Welcome to WAP with Smarty! Press OK to continue... </p> </card> <!-- begin second card --> <card id="two"> <p> Pretty easy isn't it? </p> </card></wml>

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Componentized TemplatesTraditionally, programming templates into your applications goes as follows: First, you accumulate yourvariables within your PHP application, (maybe with database queries.) Then, you instantiate your Smartyobject, assign() the variables and display() the template. So lets say for example we have a stockticker on our template. We would collect the stock data in our application, then assign these variables inthe template and display it. Now wouldn't it be nice if you could add this stock ticker to any applicationby merely including the template, and not worry about fetching the data up front?

You can do this by writing a custom plugin for fetching the content and assigning it to a template variable.

Example 18.7. componentized template

function.load_ticker.php - drop file in $plugins directory

<?php

// setup our function for fetching stock datafunction fetch_ticker($symbol){ // put logic here that fetches $ticker_info // from some ticker resource return $ticker_info;}

function smarty_function_load_ticker($params, $smarty){ // call the function $ticker_info = fetch_ticker($params['symbol']);

// assign template variable $smarty->assign($params['assign'], $ticker_info);}?>

index.tpl

{load_ticker symbol='SMARTY' assign='ticker'}

Stock Name: {$ticker.name} Stock Price: {$ticker.price}

See also {include_php}, {include} and {php}.

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Obfuscating E-mail AddressesDo you ever wonder how your email address gets on so many spam mailing lists? One way spammerscollect email addresses is from web pages. To help combat this problem, you can make your email addressshow up in scrambled javascript in the HTML source, yet it it will look and work correctly in the browser.This is done with the {mailto} plugin.

Example 18.8. Example of template the Obfuscating an email address

<div id="contact">Send inquiries to{mailto address=$EmailAddress encode='javascript' subject='Hello'}</div>

Technical Note

This method isn't 100% foolproof. A spammer could conceivably program his e-mail collectorto decode these values, but not likely.... hopefully..yet ... wheres that quantum computer :-?.

See also escape modifier and {mailto}.

269

Chapter 19. ResourcesSmarty's homepage is located at http://www.smarty.net/

• You can join the mailing list by sending an e-mail to ismarty-discussion-subscribe@googlegroups.com. An archive of the mailing list can be viewed at here [http://groups.google.com/group/smarty-discussion]

• Forums are at http://www.smarty.net/forums/

• The wiki is located at http://smarty.incutio.com/

• Join the chat at irc.freenode.net#smarty [http://smarty.incutio.com/]

• FAQ's are here [http://smarty.incutio.com/?page=SmartyFrequentlyAskedQuestions] and here [http://www.smarty.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=23]

270

Chapter 20. BUGSCheck the BUGS file that comes with the latest distribution of Smarty, or check the website.